For a variety of reasons, we have a different set of expectations from nonprofits relative to for-profit businesses with regards to transparency and information disclosure.  Some of it is legal and regulatory — as required to qualify as a nonprofit organization (for example a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization).  Some of it is a societal expectation for a nonprofit to be more transparent.  If a donor is making a contribution to a charitable cause, oftentimes there is a sense of (legitimate) entitlement to more information.

At Charity Blossom,  want to surface as much information as possible.

For this reason, we provide a forum and meeting place for nonprofits, donors, and other constituents to provide information, opinions, and insight into nonprofits.  Our goal is to be a valuable community resource of information about charities and nonprofits.

Form 990s at Your Finger Tips

In furthering this goal, we’ve decided to publish the Form 990 for all charities and nonprofits.  Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax, is submitted by tax-exempt and non-profit organizations to provide the Internal Revenue Service with annual financial information. This form is roughly equivalent to the Form 1040 that an individual files with the federal government. 

Form 990 contains a plethora of information.  Find out about donations made, how money is spent, salaries of key executives and other pertinent financial information.

While this information is  available from the IRS (for a fee) and some websites expose some of it, it is still difficult to get to.  Our goal is to make this public information easily accessible and as inexpensively as possible (currently, free!).  Just going to Charity Blossom and search for a nonprofit.  If we have the Form 990 for it, you can easily view it.

Form 990 in Bulk

While getting access to individual Form 990s for specific organizations is interesting and informatiive (for example, many have checked out the 990s of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation during a recent controversy), many have requested getting this information in bulk.  In other words getting access to all Form 900s for all organizations.  We’ve found while this information is “free” from the IRS, it still costs a few thousands of dollars for “media and processing” fees.  Further, it comes in an unmanageable set of about 200 DVDs.  Other companies provide this data at around $30,000/year) in a format that might not be very suitable for consumption.

At Charity Blossom, we can provide this information at a much more affordable level in a much more palatable form — a big USB disk.  Check it out.

We’re shining more light on nonprofits and charities.

We’re down to the wire.  It’s Valentines Day.  Have you bought that perfect give for that perfect person and planned that perfect event for tonight?

Or, are you struggling in despair, frantically trying to figure things out at the last minute?  Chocolates?  Flowers?  Dinner reservations available only at 9:45? At at the Olive Garden?  What to do?

How about a gift in the name of a loved one to his or her favorite charitable cause?  What better way to show that you care by supporting the cause that your loved one cares about.  We’ve done some research.  The gift of giving is a surprise that is appreciated like no other. 

So, if you are banging your head against the wall trying to find that perfect gift for Valentines Day, maybe giving the gift of giving is your savior.  Or, if you are comfortably set for that perfect date tonight, maybe the a gift in name of a loved one makes all the more special.

The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation has been under fire.  First, over policies regarding grant distributions to Planned Parenthood.  Or rather, the decision not to  provide grants to Planned Parenthood.  And, then reversing its policy.   And funding.

And now, they are under the microscope for other issues, such as executive compensation and spending.  Did Nancy Brinker, founder and chief executive of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, really take home $417,000 in salary in 2010 and pay 50 top executives more than $100,000 each?

At Charity Blossom, we attempt not to pass judgment over the missions and operations of nonprofits.  We do provide a platform for data (that is populated in part with IRS information), user generated content, and opinions.  Along with the capability for nonprofits for them to add information and make their “pitch” for their cause and operations.  Our goal, in addition to bringing donors and donations to nonprofits, is to provide information and insight so that (potential) donors can make informed decisions about which organizations to support.

For the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, we have a plethora of data, including the Form 990s (basically a nonprofit’s tax filings) for 2010, 2009, 2008, and 2007.

What’s the truth over this situation?  Take a look and decide for yourself.

I saw “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” last night.  It tells the the often forgotten story that “stuff” does not make us happy.  And, related, it reminded me of its corollary that it’s better to give than it is to receive. In fact, as usual around Christmas, I’m seeing stories about how giving is the key to our happiness. This week, I read “Chasing Happiness: You’re Doing It Wrong“ and “The Secret to Happiness: Giving”, both reinforcing this fairly simple idea.  And, at Charity Blossom, the most common requested feature in November was for the option to make a donation as a gift to someone else. So, we implemented the “Give the Gift of Giving” feature so you can do this.  (BTW, here’s the cheat sheet on how to do this if you want to give a donation as a gift.)  We’ve seen a significant uptake of this feature. Over 30% of donations are specified as a gifts to someone else. Maybe this is a seasonal thing but it certainly a significant number of our donations. Clearly people like to give the gift of a donation.

It’s Good to Give But Is It Good to Receive?

We’re encouraged that people like to give gifts of donations. And that it purportedly has a positive impact on their happiness. But, what about receiving gifts? And, in particular, what about receiving a gift of a donation made in their name? It seems so simple — shouldn’t we enjoy receiving gifts? However, growing up, I realized that in Japanese culture, and I presume others, this is really quite complicated. What are the rules of reciprocity? How should you acknowledge a gift? What if you don’t like a gift you’ve received? What obligations have you incurred in receiving a gift? In short, it seems receiving a gift, in a complicated inverted way, might suck.

And, Further…

What does it mean to receive the gift of a donation to a charity? Are the rules different since the recipient didn’t really receive anything themselves? Hopefully, the giver is giving to an organization that you support or at least he or she supports. So, some organization that at least one of you are passionate about gets benefit. So, there is some good here that we can all feel good about. But what about the recipient of gift of the donation made in their name?

So, we did an experiment to find out. Actually, let’s call it a “study” since it lacked scientific and statistical rigor for it to be called a experiment. I gave the Gift of Giving to a handful of people through Charity Blossom — $25 to the Charity Blossom Human Fund. When they received the card informing them of the gift, I asked, 

“Do you feel good about receiving the gift of giving?”

Over 90% said yes.

After I asked them this questioned, I followed up with a second gift, a $25 Amazon gift certificate.  I then asked, 

“Which do you enjoy more — the Gift of Giving or the Amazon gift certificate?”

Over 80% said the Gift of Giving.  Let me re-phrase that: Significantly more people enjoy receiving the Gift of Giving than receiving an Amazon gift certificate for themselves.

We were a little surprised. For those that preferred the Gift of Giving, I asked, “Why?” The most common answers (I paraphrase):

• Doing good makes me feel good.  It’s all good.  Without guilt.
• I’m not obligated to return a gift.  I don’t even have to send a thank-you note.
• It’s easy.  I don’t have to do anything.  (I guess there’s effort in the decision process in what to buy when you get a gift certificate.)

There you go. Give theGift of Giving. You feel good and are happier. Charities get money that is desperately needed. And your recipients of your gift feel good (in a significant way) too.

Happy Holidays!

[Side note: A donation to the Human Fund also has a bit more of trickiness to it as well. As you may know, the “Human Fund” is central a parody skit on the television show Seinfeld. At Charity Blossom, the Human Fund is real but there is a complicated mental interplay with the fictional fund on the TV show. At Charity Blossom, the Human Fund is playful but does serious good.]

Rate a Nonprofit on Charity Blossom.

Review a Nonprofit on Charity Blossom.

As co-founder and first engineers at MerchantCircle, Jason, Jeff, and I are well versed on the impact of online ratings and reviews of local businesses. While MerchantCircle was not focused on providing reviews for businesses, we watched how Yelp became *the* place to find good information on businesses such as restaurants, hair salons, and contractors. Consumers have increasingly turned to web to find user generated reviews to find the “go to” places in a city. The Yellow Pages, at least among the Internet cognoscenti, are left unopened and sent directly to the recycling bin. The professional reviewers in newspapers are no match for the “wisdom of the crowd” and their knowledge. The power of the masses, aggregated by Yelp, has become a dominant force.  Local businesses owners depend on these reviews and reviewers — the collective masses of consumers validate and promote their businesses; ultimately, they have determined whether or not they would succeed or fail.

At Charity Blossom, we’ve taken note of this. Part of our mission is to be the “go to”place to find information about charities and nonprofits. In addition to objective information that we receive from the IRS and the information we get from the nonprofits themselves,  we allow you — donors, supporters, and even detractors of nonprofits — a platform for you voice your opinions, comments, and concerns about nonprofits. We’ve democratized the knowledge available to you by allowing others to let you know what they think about charities and nonprofits. For every nonprofit/charity we have listing information (we get the exhaustive list of over 1.5 million nonprofits from the IRS), you can leave your thoughts and opinions.

User generated content shines light onto nonprofits. It provides valuable information to help you formulate informed opinions and conclusions about charities and nonprofits. Relying only on government, objective, or self-promoted information would leave a gap in the whole story. So, we’ve fully embraced social media as a mechanism to give more an better information about nonprofits.

Our implementation leverages Facebook to collect, disseminate, and authenticate information that gets generated by the collective masses. Using Facebook comments, Likes, and Connect, we’ve built a powerful platform to share user generated reviews and ratings.

So “Like” a nonprofit or write a review for a charity on Charity Blossom.  You are helping charities and nonprofits as well as donors too.  Much like Yelp, Charity Blossom is the go to place to ratings and reviews for charities and nonprofits.

I’ll close with a promotion of another place for you to find user generated reviews on nonprofits — GreatNonprofits. They’ve been around for awhile. And, while it’s a little “old school,” it’s a pretty good place to find out about 11,000+ nonprofits where there are over 92,000 reviews. We’ve poked around a bit to see how they’ve done over the years. Good job!

Here are some numbers from Quantcast too:

‘Tis the Season to Be Giving.

According to Network for Good, one-third of charitable giving is done in December. Given the state of the global economy, we’re taking a look at the early indicators on charitable giving this year. We’re hoping it is going to be a good year for nonprofits and charities.

Unfortunately, it’s too early too give statistical significant insight into what is going on.  However, we’ve seen some interesting directional trends for 2011. We’re only 2 weeks in from Thanksgiving, but here’s what we see developing.

The Trend Toward Apple

We’re seeing significant donations from users of Apple products. We see disproportionately more donations from Mac users than PC users.  More interestingly, we’re seeing strong activity on IPhones and IPads. All most 10% of donations were made on either an IPad or an IPhone.   Further, donors on the IPad seem to give significantly more than all other platforms. As we think about Charity Blossom products and features in the future, we’re taking a hard look at the trend towards Apple and towards mobile devices.  We aren’t seeing any significant activity on other mobile systems. Last, we observe that  the overall platform usage (as opposed to donations) by visitors tracks closely to donations.

Donations Are Up, Relative to Last Year at Network for Good

Overall, average donations are  around $120.  This is a promising sign, as Network for Good reports their average donation size of $73, for 2011.

Again, there are still over 3 weeks until New Years, so we’re not sure how this is all going to turn. We’re optimistic for a good end-of-year for nonprofits and charities.

Help do your part!  Make a donation today!

Giving gifts during the holiday season is a time honored tradition. It feels all most silly that I mention it, because it is so obvious.  And, herein lies the dilemma — we want to give super awesome, meaningful gifts; however, because they are all most expected, giving gifts that truly delight or surprise is oftentimes a difficult if not impossible task. Will the gifts you give really be appreciated? Will you really enjoy giving those gifts? And, for the cynical, how much effort will you go through to figure out the perfect gift for all of those that you want to/need to give to?

We Have the Perfect Gift for You to Give.  The Gift of Giving.

Through Charity Blossom, you can give gifts of donations. A heartfelt gift to a passionate cause of the recipient is always appreciated. Believe me. It might sound a bit strange, but we’ve done the surveys — much joy is received. Alternatively, you can also give the gift of a donation to one of your causes in the name of a friend. Again, our research shows that your gift is appreciated. Donations are gifts that both you and the recipient can feel good about.

It’s Easy and Efficient.

It’s easy to Give the Gift of Giving. Simply search and find the nonprofit or charity for which you would like to make a gift and click donate. You’ll can specify your donation as a gift.  It’s that easy — just like making any other donation on Charity Blossom. An email note gets sent to the gift recipient (that you can modify or annotate), you get your tax deduction, and we keep track of all the receipts for you. Would there be the easiest and most thoughtful gifts you send this year?

Still Too Hard?  Give to a Fund — It’s Even Easier

I know, I know — you want to Give the Gift of Giving. But to whom? Don’t have a favorite nonprofit that you want to support? Or you don’t know which charity will be appreciated by a recipient? No problem — we have a collection of Funds that you can make donations as gifts. We have funds to:

• Eradicate Hunger
• Build a Better Africa
• Make Healthcare Accessible
• Find Salvation for Pets
• Find a Cure for Cancer
• Help the Homeless

Give a donation as a gift to one of these funds and you’ll be helping where help is needed most. You give and we’ll figure out which organization best help these causes.

Still Not Convinced or Confused?

We’ve created one last fund — the Human Fund — Money for People. While the Human Fund was a snarky joke in an episode  on the television show Seinfeld, giving a gift to this fund, our general fund for humanitarian aid in the United States, is real. Indeed, you’ll have have a little fun by giving a gift to this fund. But be assured that your gift will do real good for those that need it.

One Last Thing

Still skeptical? Research shows that the secret to happiness is giving, according to Science. What could be better than giving a gift of giving?

Operation Nightwatch brings compassion to the poor and homeless. It brings immediate shelter to women, men, and families in need. Especially at night. And, beyond the short term, it helps provide long term solutions, education, hope, and spiritual care for those in need. It services the Greater Seattle area.

Homeless is a complicated issue. After spending much time with my cousin, a director at Operation Nightwatch, I’ve learned that most all want to “help.” But “how” and to what end is not obviously clear. Sometimes we donate (used) sweaters, blankets, socks, food, and hygiene products. Such tangible giving might help and it makes “us” feel good to do so. By making such donations,  perhaps we assuage our consciences, get a tax deduction, and *maybe* do some good. I’ve further learned of the (logistic) complexities of distributing such goods to those in need. This is a nontrivial problem. So, perhaps our giving isn’t as efficient or effective as we think or hope.

Second, what does it mean to “help?” Should we strive to “End Homelessness?” Should our goal be temporary relieve? Can we really end the cycle of poverty and homelessness? What is the end goal?

Last, does direct contribution to those in need — those asking for it, “panhandlers” — really help? Or does it potentially hurt?  I’m sure you’ve been approached by a man or woman with a hand extended, asking for spare change or a few dollars.  Like many, perhaps you’ve wondered, if I give, will it go to food/clothes or will it be “squandered” on liquor or drugs? And, left with such questions, maybe you give or maybe you refrain, uncertain with what the right thing to do is.

I’ve thought about all of these questions: What should I give? How will it help? What do I hope to accomplish? Would giving actually hurt not help?

I’ve concluded, for myself, that giving cash to organizations such as Operation Nightwatch is the best option. Rick Reynolds and his team at Operation Nightwatch are experienced, trained, and compassionate. They understand the issues of homelessness and execute their mission to provide help and hope. And, while donated goods might help, donated dollars are a more efficient and effective way for you to help too. And, by giving through Operation Nightwatch, your nagging worry that your contribution won’t actually be detrimental , as you feared in giving a direct “hand out,” are relieved.

This is why I support Operation Nightwatch. I hope you join me.

If you aren’t in the Greater Seattle Area, perhaps you’d like to provide support in your local community. You can do so by giving to the Charity Blossom Help for the Homeless Fund. We bring compassion to the homeless.  You can too. Click here to help.

I’ve watch with amazement how Facebook has changed the semantics of words in our lexicon.  It’s forever altered what it means to be a “friend,” for better or worse.  With equal impact, Facebook has changed the meaning of “like.”  ”Friend” and “like” are fundamental words — words that shape who we are as individuals, a culture and, a society — especially if you believe the Sapir Whorf Hypothesis.

In practical terms, from the perspective of a business or nonprofit using Facebook as a platform for social engagement, how do the concepts of “Friend” and “Like” impact how we use Facebook?  And, specifically, how should you, a web application hack or marketing wonk, reason about how to deploy the concept of “Like?”

I think there has been a lot of confusion around Facebook “Like”s and the concept of Like continues to evolve.  For the uninitiated, here’s a simplified answer to how to use “Like.”

Please Like Us

Before getting started, if you like Charity Blossom, please “Like” us.   Go ahead — click the Like button to the right:

What Does This Mean?

Without getting too philosophical, Liking Charity Blossom means that you Liked our Page on Facebook.  So, in order to like us, we needed to create a Facebook page.  When you clicked the Like button above, you “Liked” that Page.  At this point, we can communicate with you through our Facebook page.  When we (where “we” is a Charity Blossom administrator), post a status update on the Charity Blossom page, our status likely gets stuffed into your Newsfeed.

Also, once you’ve liked us, you have a communication channel to us as well.

Pretty simple, eh?

Why It’s Confusing

We’ll conveniently ignore the deep linguistic issues around the meaning of “like.”  Rather, we’ll simply say that “Liking” something (e.g. clicking on a Facebook Like button), you’ve expressed a preference for something. Ambiguity arises when we reason about what “something” is.  For example, when you “like” Charity Blossom, you are abstractly specifying a preference for Charity Blossom, the company and our mission.  In concrete terms, you are expressing a preference for the Charity Blossom page on Facebook that we have created.

However, it’s possible to Like things other than our Charity Blossom page.  In fact, you can Like (all most) any Facebook “object.”  An object might be a Facebook application, a URL on the web, a Facebook comment…the possibilities are nearly limitless.

It’s up to the application program that implements the Like button that determines what is being liked when you hit Like.  For us, it’s our Facebook Page.

What This Means for You, a Business or Nonprofit

Current best practices say you should have a Page on Facebook.  And, you should implement Like so that people like this Page if you want visitors to express a preference for your business or nonprofit.  

You can then “Use Facebook as a Page” to communicate with people that have Liked your page. (Click on the “down arrow” on the upper right corner when you are in Facebook.)

Resolving Some Confusion

As a Facebook novice, there are few things that are complicated about “Like” and Pages.

• Facebook applications, arbitrary URLs (such as a URL to your home page), and your page are all distinct objects in the Facebook Open Graph.  So, when you implement “Like,” make sure you are attaching the Like to your Facebook Page.
• There is no such thing as a Facebook “Fan Page,” distinct from a Page.  Rather, there are Pages that may be liked.  People that like your page, are your “fans.”  Hence, the Page is colloquially known as a “fan page.”
• You can implement “Like” on any page on the web.  When a user clicks “Like,” you, the implementor controls what (Facebook object) is being liked.  (It’s probably unclear to the user what is actually being liked.
• If you implement “Like” so that it likes a URL not your page, you have less control over how to communicate with those that have Liked your Page.
• Facebook is rapidly changing and evolving.  So, how this all works will probably quickly change as well.

What’s Next?

Now that you’ve implemented Like so that fans are Liking your Page, what next?  First, it seems that being focussed on getting a lot of people to Like you is a key first objective.  (Good Job!)  You can now communicate with your fans through your Page.  However, beyond this, there are many things that you can do.  But that is subject for another blog post.  Stay tuned.

Still Haven’t Liked Us?

Go ahead — give us a Like!

Further, even if you all ready Liked us from our Charity Blossom website (www.charityblossom.org), please Like us again.  We made the neophyte mistake of originally attaching our Like button to the www.charityblossom.org URL object, not our Facebook Page.

Thanks!

10. Easy.  With a few easy clicks or swipes, you can find and give to the charities and causes that you support.

9. No stamps, no checks, no envelopes.  No more licking, writing, or stuffing.

8. Efficient.  We’re among the most efficient (if not the most efficient) mechanisms for getting money to your favorite charities and nonprofits.

7. Receipts at your finger tips.  Come April when you are gathering receipts for tax deductions, find all of your charitable donation receipts at Charity Blossom.

6. It’s fun.  Do you like Farmville?  Charity Blossom is “Donorville” for real life. But your work goes to doing real good, in the real world.

5. Get that deduction today.  If it’s December 31 and you want to make that charitable contribution in 2011, you can get it done at Charity Blossom.  

4. Engage friends.  Want to reach out to people you haven’t seen in awhile?  Re-establish relationships by letting them know about the causes you support.  It’s better than a Christmas card.

3.  Find charities that support your cause.  If there is a cause you want to support but don’t know which charities help, you find them at Charity Blossom.  Or donate to a Charity Blossom fund and we’ll figure out the right charities for you.

2. Feel good.  Scientific studies show that the secret of happiness is giving: http://bit.ly/sxGEAo 

AND THE NUMBER ONE REASON TO DONATE THROUGH CHARITY BLOSSOM:

1.   You are doing a world of good.  Charities and nonprofits need your help!

You can help. Give today. Make a donation at Charity Blossom.