The Gifting Program

There is a flow in the universe that escapes those unaccustomed to its presence. It is called gifting. Gifting is a simple procedure: you send something to someone else without the need for gratification, identification, or authenticity. To gift someone is to participate in life with unequaled fervor.

Ranada Foundation wants to demonstrate what we can do as a collective that we cannot do alone. $1 doesn't offer much purchasing power in the marketplace, but 500,000 people contributing $1 can build a building, fund shelters for the homeless and the aged, feed animals displaced by the economy, paint homes of the elderly, record a CD, and even make a movie.

One of the most important ways you can experience peace within is to give. At Ranada Foundation, we have designed a program to revitalize the flow in and around your life. It is called The Gifting Program.

Initially Ranada Foundation's Gifting Program will be targeting organizations that provide transitional assistance for those displaced by circumstances in the economy. It will help fund shelters, free clinics, food banks, and loans for new businesses. In phase two, The Gifting Program will support programs that create affordable green housing for seniors, veterans, the medically-challenged, as well as lower-income service personnel such as teachers, fire and rescue, clergy, police, and medical personnel. We will do all of this by funding agencies that already do this work!

Our 60 recipients for 2010 are...

Our 35 recipients for 2009 are...

All individuals and organizations sponsored will have a web presence and all gifting is made directly to the designated organizations. Each organization is due only the monies they receive directly from donors; Ranada Foundation does not act as a throughway on behalf of these projects. GuideStar offers financial information on most of the charities we have chosen as recipients but some recipients will be startups. A non-profit watchdog agency called Charity Navigator rates the larger non-profits and offers a comparative analysis for administrative, fundraising, and program expenses. If you would like to know more about the charities we have designated as recipients, please visit www.GuideStar.org or www.CharityNavigator.org or the links provided to the charity's web page.

Just think... 5,000 people participating can direct $25,000, 50,000 people participating can direct $250,000, and 500,000 people participating can direct $2,500,000 per month. That's the math! So get your envelopes, stamps, and $1 bills ready and let's build our community!

Can We Give More? Yes, of course. Please give as you feel directed by your heart. If you want to take a tax deduction for your gift, you will need to provide your mailing address or email address to the charity. If you do not want to be put on their mailing list or if you don't want your contact information to be sold, remember to OPT-OUT. We recommend gifting online or by check for larger donations.

Can We Give Online? You can gift to each of the charities on our list directly via their web sites or collectively through online gifting services. As a rule, online gifts should be a minimum of $10 per organization (total gift $50 for all five) to cover the costs of the service providers. Most online services allow you to gift anonymously and/or opt-out of being put on their email or mailing list.

Micro-philanthropy or small-donation gifting can create some pitfalls for both the charity receiving the money and the donor. Be informed. Here is the process that creates that scenario.

When a contribution is received, the charity automatically adds you to their email and mail list if this information is provided. In the case of small donations, the entire contribution will probably be negated by the cost of this automated campaign mechanism. To recoup the cost of adding small donors to their email and mailing lists, some charities sell your contact information to other non-profits. And, because of the current fundraising practices of many charities, a $1 NON-anonymous gift could potentially draw funds away from the very programs we wish to support. The answer: PLEASE DONATE ANONYMOUSLY.

Gifting online with small donations can also be problematic. We were told by one non-profit that acts as a donation center for processing multiple online donations that 500,000 people participating in a $1 campaign could cost them tens of thousands of dollars in processing fees in excess of what they take in. Additionally, donations $5 or less are often flagged as potentially fraudulent charges by banks, credit card processors, and recipient organizations which can then initiate a costly investigation. Because our gifts are small and our numbers are large we need to take care in how we approach gifting.

A non-profit charity evaluator called Charity Navigator offers these insights into the process for processing your donations in a short video that explains Why We Contribute Anonymously.

Please check our listing above of charities already scheduled for gifting in 2009 before you submit your favorites. If you don't find your favorite charity listed, feel free to submit your favorite charity as a possible recipient of our gifting program including the name of the organization, some basic information about the charity, the web address, the name of a contact person if you know one, and your reason for wanting to support their work.