Frequently asked questions

Below you'll find answers to the questions we get asked the most about ClearGivers.

         Like a wedding registry, but for charities :)

         Here’s our 1-minute Whiteboard Ad; please check it out for a quick summary.

 

         The simple version:

         Retailers list their goods and services on the ClearGivers platform.

         Non-profits put the goods and services they require in their shopping carts.                     

         Donors access those shopping carts, and buy the goods and services for the non-profits.

 

          The detailed version:

          RETAILERS

  1. Local and national retailers and service providers apply to feature their goods and services on the ClearGivers platform.  
  2. Once verified, a retailer or service provider can create a ClearGivers profile and list their store on our platform. 

         501(c)(3) ORGANIZATIONS 

  1. 501(c)(3) organizations apply to us for verification.
  2. Once verified, a 501(c)(3) organization can create a ClearGivers profile, and browse our listed retailers for goods and services needed by their organization.
  3. The 501(c)(3) organizations place goods and services they need in their online shopping carts.

         DONORS

  1. Donors visit our site, create a profile and set up a donor account.
  2. Upon donating into their donor accounts, donors immediately receive an IRS tax deduction letter.
  3. Donors can explore the site, finding out more about the charities and causes they wish to support.
  4. Donors have 10 days from the date of donation to use their donated funds to purchase goods and services selected by our partner 501(c)(3) organizations.

        THEN . . .

  1. Retailers ship new goods / arrange to provide services to the relevant 501(c)(3) organizations. 
  2. Recipients take pictures on delivery, both to update donors who want to see the impact they are making, and as receipt.

        DONE!

Oh boy, do we love this question!

It’s a big old 0%.

Yep, you read that right.

0% OF YOUR DONATION GOES ON OVERHEAD.

If you donate $100.00 into your ClearGivers account, you can purchase $100.00 worth of goods and services for those in need. 

Have fun!

We built ClearGivers to make the process of donating to charities transparent and accessible to everyone. We saw an opportunity to do this alongside helping another, unrelated industry: retail.

The ClearGivers platform provides a multi-faceted solution to a multi-faceted problem, and our mission statement is to ensure every one of our users benefits from their involvement. If you're down with that, you should definitely join us!

If that's not enough, here are some more reasons:

RETAILERS

Local retail has never had it so tough. With COVID impacting in-person businesses globally, and with commerce continuing to shift online, traditional retail is suffering. 

ClearGivers provides a platform where all retailers have equal visibility. Whatever your business or size, you’ll be listed on the same page. Verified 501(c)(3) organizations filter according to their requirements - so if you have the goods / services they need, your store will appear. 

ClearGivers offers you the opportunity to do business in the charitable sphere, to communicate with and get to know members of your local community. Our platform enables relationships to form between individuals, charities and businesses.

This is social business at its best.

CHARITIES

Charities using our platform gain unprecedented control over the help they can provide within communities.

Imagine this: if your recipients need blankets, you go online and request blankets to be purchased, now. If you need legal assistance to protect an individual from eviction, you can request legal assistance via our platform, now.

Charities are empowered to request what they need, when they need it - no janky overhead, no excess storage issues. The whole process becomes streamlined, enabling you to do more of what you excel at: helping folks.

DONORS

Donors benefit from having 100% choice over how 100% of their donations get spent. You will be fully involved in the process, from start to finish, empowered to understand where your donation will immediately make the most difference.

And each time you make a donation with ClearGivers, you will immediately receive an IRS-compliant tax deduction note, making it easier for you to track within your personal admin items.

 

Thanks for asking! Here's some guidance. If you need more, don't hesitate to get in touch.

INVENTORY PICTURES

W x H

600px X 600px

PROFILE PICTURE / LOGO

W x H

300px X 300px

BACKGROUND PICTURE

W x H

1000px X 600px

Minimum width = 1000px

RECEIPT PICTURE

600px X 600px


Donor

It’s super-simple.

Log in and navigate to ‘My Wallet.’ Then hit ‘Add Money.’ You’ll be redirected to Stripe's secure payment gateway to complete the donation process in the way that suits you best.

Stripe accepts all major cards and banks, Google Pay, Apple Pay and PayPal.

Once you’ve hit the submit button, check your email for your IRS-compliant tax deduction letter.

And remember, you can then choose how your donation is spent!

Just please make sure to spend your donated CG$ within 10 days.

501(c)(3) organizations have already selected what they need from our partnered retailers. 

You simply use our proprietary discovery tools to decide where and how you’d like to spend your donation. You can filter by location, cause, or charity.

We hope you have a lot of fun exploring and learning about the various causes and charities supported by this platform!

Our objective is to ensure recipients get the goods and services they need as soon as possible. We don’t want donations sitting around doing nothing when that money could be lifting communities. 

So, we'd like you to spend your donation within 10 days of making it. During those 10 days, you can decide exactly how your donation money is spent.

10 days after you donate, anything remaining in your donor account will be swept into a collective fund, from which purchases will be made by our ClearGivers team. 

You have the option to list your charity / cause preferences within your Member profile. The ClearGivers team will adhere to your indicated preferences wherever possible, and after that will allocate collective fund donations to charities with urgent needs.

That's totally cool. If you don’t want to decide how your donation is spent, you don’t have to.

We're giving you flexible control over your donation.

When you log in, navigate to your 'Edit Profile' page. From there, you can:

1. specifically direct every $ you donate; or

2. select causes, charities or locations you are interested in. 

10 days after you donate, any funds you have not yet directly spent will be swept into a collective fund. The ClearGivers team will follow your preferences as far as possible, and after that, will direct donated funds to buy urgently needed goods and services.

It’s 100% up to you how 100% of your donation is spent.

You can!

If you want to continue giving money to charities directly, you can still do that - just not through our platform :)

ClearGivers empowers 501(c)(3) organizations to ask for exactly what they need, when they need it. ClearGivers also gives retailers a much-needed boost.

By empowering 501(c)(3)s to request what they need, ClearGivers reduces longstanding problems like excessive overhead, stock management and decision-making based on cashflow.

Using the ClearGivers platform, you'll measurably decrease the heavy admin burden borne by already stretched 501(c)(3) organizations.

You'll remove the annual pressure faced by many 501(c)(3)s, forced to raise as much as possible during one event, to eke out through the year.

You'll leave them free to do what they do best: help people. 

You’ll provide the people who need help with exactly what they need, precisely when they need it. 

Great question! 

Cleargivers’ focus is on community and transparency, so we love it when our users stay in touch and post socially. We are stronger together, and social media helps our users find one another.

Our default position is that you will receive email updates on the status of your gifted goods and services. You’ll also be tagged in social media, provided you have given us your handles.

And for you anonymous donors, we’ve got you too - simply check the box that says ‘No thank you’ to updates and social media tagging.


Charities

In so many ways! Our platform is simply a tech-friendly solution for traditional methods of charitable giving. 

RELIEF AS NEEDED

Brick & mortar donation spots suffer big storage constraints: people are generous, and it’s not always possible to store donated goods efficiently. ClearGivers gives you the ability to request what you need, when you need it. Storage issues never even come into play.

PEACE OF MIND

ClearGivers has a vetting process in place for security reasons. Users can rest assured that goods and services are legitimately purchased and sent to those in need.

NEW GOODS

In this new world, it’s difficult to accept second-hand goods safely. The ClearGivers platform enables the purchase of new goods from local and national retailers for those in need. 

COMMUNITY-BASED SOLUTION

ClearGivers is a real force for good, bringing communities together. Retailers gain the opportunity to be closely involved with their communities. Donors can support local stores while also gifting required goods and services. Each donated $ therefore potentially helps both a recipient and a local retailer in need of business.

It’s super simple :)

  1. Create your ClearGivers account and request 501(c)(3) organization authentication. A ClearGivers Team Member will reach out to request authentication documentation. In most cases, we should be able to verify your charitable status within 1 - 5 business days.

  2. Once verified, please log in and fill out your profile as completely as you can. This profile is visible to all donors visiting the site, so the more details you can provide, the better. Please email info@ClearGivers.org if you have any issues.

  3. Once your profile is complete, log in, select Goods or Services, then … go shopping! 

  4. Place what you need in your basket.

  5. Your basket contents will be visible to donors researching how to spend their donations. When a donor buys something for you from your basket, you'll receive an email alert. Your requested goods / services will be delivered ASAP.

  6. At the point of delivery, please take a picture and submit it to us through your profile. This picture serves as evidence of delivery, as thanks to the donor, and is to use on social media.

That's all - until you go shopping again :)


Sellers

It’s super simple :)

  1. Create your ClearGivers account and request retailer authentication. 

A ClearGivers Team Member will reach out to you for authentication documentation and to agree your affiliate contract. We should be able to verify you for within 1 - 5 business days.

  1. Once verified, log in and fill out your profile as completely as you can. 

This profile is visible to all donors and 501c3 organizations visiting the site, so we recommend that you provide as much detail as possible.

  1. Once your profile is complete, connect your store with us in one of two ways:

    1. Via APIs (contact us so our development team can directly assist you); or

    2. List your goods / services directly on our site.

  2. Your store’s content will be visible to 501c3 organizations and donors so they can shop from you.

  3. If you have connected with us via an API, please contact us at info@ClearGivers.org for further details on what to expect.

  4. If you have listed your items directly on our site, your inventory will update when a donor buys something from your store. You will receive instructions for when and how to ship the goods / provide the services.

  5. You will receive payment minus the agreed affiliate fee once the item(s) are confirmed shipped.

When you set up a Seller profile with us, parts of it are publicly visible as your 'ClearGivers business card.'

We ask you to provide a background picture and a profile picture to make this part look nice. Most people tend to give us their logo, as a profile picture, and a great shot of either their store or their wares for background. However, the choice of imagery is totally up to you.

Sizewise, we're working on an auto-resizer, we promise. Until then, we need the following sizes:

Background picture - 1000px x 600px

Profile picture - 300px x 300px