Nonprofits

Harness the power of the crowd

Cauze was founded on the idea that by making giving simple and social, people will give much more to nonprofits than they do now. The key to this model is to make giving about the giver.

Our goal is to enable people to support your organization at any moment they feel inspired, in a very social and amplified way. Let’s turn giving into a habit by tapping into the giver’s need for social expression and by amplifying individual giving via real time matching and corporate giving.

Did you just receive your first grant check?

HOW DOES IT WORK?

A Cauze user donates $10 to your organization through the Cauze app. Their $10 donation goes into the Cauze Charitable Fund, a registered 501c3 Donor Advised Fund. At the end of every month, Cauze consolidates all donation recommendations for your nonprofit and makes a single grant on behalf of all our users. This includes individual donations, matched donations and gifted donations.

HOW WILL MY ORGANIZATION RECEIVE THE FUNDS?

All grants come from our partner, the Cauze Charitable Fund. We processes donations monthly. Your organization will receive a check from Cauze within the first two weeks of the following month.

DO I NEED TO SEND TAX RECEIPTS FOR DONATIONS RECEIVED THROUGH CAUZE?

No. The Cauze Charitable Fund is the donor of record and we kindly ask that you not send a receipt or add us to your direct mailing list.

WHAT ARE THE FEES ASSOCIATED WITH GIVING THROUGH CAUZE?

When a giver donates using a credit card, they cover a small credit card processing fee of 2.2% + .30. This is paid to our credit card vendor and is unfortunately unavoidable. The result is that 100% of their intended donation goes to the nonprofit.

If a Cauze user makes a donation from a gifted balance, there is a gift processing fee of between 5% and 10%, depending on the corporate client making the gift.

For example, if a donor makes a $50 donation via her credit card and it’s matched $50 by Company A, Cauze will send the nonprofit $95. That’s $50 from the donor and $45 from the company.

HOW DOES CAUZE GENERATE INCOME?

We make money from employers and corporations who want to engage their employees and customers in giving back. We charge employers a monthly software fee for using Cauze to administer a matching and rewards program. We also earn a small percentage on donations made from gifted balances.

HOW DOES A GIFT WORK IN CAUZE?

Donors in Cauze can fund (donate to) their Cauze account, and then “gift” the choice of nonprofit recipient to others. The receiver of the gift has a gifted balance and can use that to make donations (grants) to any nonprofit.

Currently, gifts only exist between and employer and employee and are being used as a rewards program for employees.

HOW DOES A MATCH WORK?

Donors in Cauze can fund (donate to) their Cauze account, and then “gift” the choice of nonprofit recipient to others. The receiver of the gift has a gifted balance and can use that to make donations (grants) to any nonprofit. Currently, gifts only exist between and employer and employee and are being used as a rewards program for employees.

A match is very similar to a gift from one user to another. The difference is that the trigger for “earning” the gift is to make a donation. For example, if an employer offers to match donations of their employees, when the employee gives to a nonprofit, Cauze automatically pulls the matching funds into that donation and it’s added to the monthly grant.

Matches have the following elements:

  • The Matcher – This is the company offering to match. It might be an employer, a foundation, or a company matching their customers. Matches can have one or more Matchers.

  • Eligible Nonprofits – This is one or more nonprofits who are eligible for a match. In the case of employers, it’s typically any 501c3.

  • Eligible Givers – the Matcher can limit which givers are eligible to use the match. For an employer, this would be their employees. For a private foundation, it might be anyone who gives to the nonprofit.

  • Maximum Total Match Amount – this is the total amount a matcher would match across all donations.

  • Maximum Individual Match Amount – matches can be set up with an individual maximum match amount. For example, up to $500 per giver.

  • Time Frame – this is the time that a match is eligible. It could be a day, it could be a calendar year, or it could be indefinite (or until the max total amount is reached).