Patent Application
20220067799
The present disclosure relates to systems and methods that enable customers to challenge providers or other entities to make charitable contributions to charities of the customer's choice.
Charitable or philanthropic giving has been around for a long time. A main challenge for charitable organizations is to raise funds for their causes. Fundraising is expensive and requires a significant marketing effort. This is particularly problematic for small, relatively local charities—many of which, although they provide funding to areas popular with charitable donors, may be relatively unknown. Additionally, it is difficult for donors or customers to give to two or more charities at one time. Typically, the donors need to find each charity on separate websites and give either a one-time or a recurring donation to each charity. More recently, with the advent of portable electronic devices such as smart phones and tablets, charitable giving has been facilitated using applications that enable donors to give electronically. Systems are also known for small investors that allow them to utilize electronic devices to create and manage, on a cost-effective basis, a complex portfolio of securities, based upon the preferences of the investor. These systems can then initiate trades of the portfolio as a whole or in part in order to facilitate the wants and needs of the small investor.
Today, when a potential charitable donor researches a charity on the internet (or by other means), that donor typically visits many different websites collecting information which might not provide answers to them to make informed decisions on their donation. The landscape for charitable giving is fragmented with many single but different ways for the donor to give.
There is a need for a donation facilitation system that allows a donor, such as a customer or provider, to challenge another entity, such as a provider, to make a provider contribution to a charity or a portfolio of multiple charities set up by the customer upon, for example, the purchase of a good or service from the provider. There is also a need for a portfolio facilitation system that allows the other entity such as a provider to create its own provider portfolio of multiple charities and make a provider contribution to a customer's portfolio of multiple charities when at least one member of the provider's portfolio of multiple charities matches at least one member of the customer's portfolio of multiple charities. Additionally, there is a need for a customer to challenge providers such as financial institutions, processors or payment networks, card networks, merchants (providers) and individuals to make such a contribution to a provider charity or a portfolio of multiple charities.
In one aspect, a donation facilitation system is disclosed that includes a data storage that stores content. A computing device, of a customer, configured to execute at least one application and containing at least one processor in communication with a network. In some embodiments, a network server containing at least one processor in communication with the computing device in communication with the network. The network serve may include information about at least one charity, and communicates with the at least one application executed on the computing device, further wherein the network server performs. The disclosed system may further include receiving a challenge, from at least one application executed on the computing device associated with the at least one customer, when the customer purchases a good or service. The provider may receive the challenge for a contribution to the at least one charity associated with a customer portfolio. In other embodiments, the disclosed system may further include comparing, in response to the challenge, the at least one charity associated with the customer portfolio with the at least one charity associated with a provider portfolio to determine a match, which is based on likelihood of similarity of each of the respective charity in the portfolio. The disclosed system, in other embodiments, may further contribute the contribution by the provider to the match, which includes at least one charity. In some embodiments, the user may select the charities to contribute to by, in one possible embodiment, selecting the charity name at the graphical user interface of the computing device.
In another aspect of the donation facilitation system, the provider contribution is a fixed percentage of the purchase or a fixed fee based upon the purchase. In another aspect of the donation facilitation system, the customer portfolio information is stored in at least one of the data storage of the computing device and the network.
In one aspect, a donation facilitation system is disclosed that includes a donation facilitation system comprising a data storage in a computing device that stores content. The donation facilitation system may also include a network server containing at least one processor in communication with the computing device in communication with the network. The network serve may further include information about at least one charity, and communicates with the at least one application executed on the computing device. In other aspects, the computing device, of a customer, configured to execute at least one application and containing at least one processor in communication with a network, further wherein the computing device processors perform the steps of executing an app for purchasing goods or services. In some embodiments when purchasing goods or services, the system may send a challenge, from at least one application executed on the computing device associated with the at least one customer, when the customer purchases a good or service, wherein the provider receives the challenge for a contribution to the at least one charity associated with a customer portfolio. The system may further include comparing, in response to the challenge, the at least one charity associated with the customer portfolio with the at least one charity associated with a provider portfolio to determine a match, which is based on likelihood of similarity of each of the respective charity in the portfolio. The system disclosed may further select preferred charities and contribute the contribution by the provider to the match, which includes at least one charity. The charity may be from at least one of a cause or a non-profit group. The charity may be selected or determined through social media use (the leaderboards with points awarded). The charity may also be a non-profit or individual fundraiser for politics, public figure, college fund, cause, etc. At least one charity may be bundled together by bundlers. The donations may be pooled together and distributed to the charities and distributed to the group, or the winner of the campaign.
In another embodiment, the charity may be designated and associated with a geographic location, that received the donation. In other embodiments that system can help determine a preferred charity of the user, or a portfolio of charities that the user would likely donate to. The program can locate the charities, or the user can personalize the portfolio with specific types, or personally selected by the user. The user may select the charities based on their own interests and preferences. The number of charities in a portfolio may be limited to a maximum number, such as a maximum number that the user chooses.
Whenever the donor gives a single donation to a portfolio, the donation can be split and simultaneously distributed to each charity within the portfolio depending upon the rules set up by the donor. For example, the donation can be evenly distributed to all members of a charitable portfolio. In addition to the customer making a contribution, in another embodiment, the provider may make a contribution separate from, in addition to, or instead of the customer. The electronic device can enable the provider to access the customer challenge, the customer portfolio of charities, the provider portfolio of charities. In some embodiments, the challenge contribution can be made to a donor advised fund and the provider can include a financial institution, a processor, a payment network, a card network, merchants, or at least 1 individual.
In another embodiment, the donation facilitation system disclosed further comprises a challenge contribution made by the provider to the customer portfolio of multiple charities in response to the challenge. The customer portfolio information may be stored in at least one of the data storage of the computing device and the network, and is based on the price of the purchased good or service. In another embodiment, the provider contribution may comprise a fixed challenge amount or a rounding amount based on the purchase price. In another embodiment, the donation facilitation system disclosed wherein the fixed challenge amount is based on at least one of a predetermined value, a fixed percentage of the price or the fixed challenge amount is a fixed fee per transaction. In some embodiments, the challenge may comprise a challenge amount. In another embodiment, the donation facilitation system disclosed may include the provider contribution that meets or exceeds the challenge amount, or is less than the challenge amount.
In another embodiment, the donation facilitation system disclosed wherein the contribution is stored in the network and the charities in the customer portfolio are updated and associated with preferences of the customer. The system may further comprise a server comprising the portfolio of customer charities, the portfolio of provider charities, or both. They system may further comprise at least one computing device in communication with the server.
In another embodiment, the at least one electronic device comprises a mobile device. In some embodiments, the at least one electronic device allows the provider to access the customer challenge, customer portfolio of charities, or the provider portfolio of charities. In some embodiments, the challenge contribution is made to a donor advised fund. The provider may comprise, in some embodiments, a financial institution, a processor, a payment network, a card network, merchants, trading, exchange, or individuals.
Where the crypto or virtual currency is traded in an exchange, the exchange may make a contribution when challenged. The contribution may be based on trading at the time of the trade such as “donate-at-trade,” a fixed amount, rounded amount, or a percentage contribution. In this embodiment, the exchange may have a portfolio of organizations or charities to contribute to. The participating traders of the exchange may also have portfolios for determining the recipient of the contribution(s). The exchange may contribute, as well as the other traders of the exchange. The contribution may be a fixed amount, an amount based on round-up or down, based on trades, values, or value increases. In the embodiment that includes traders, exchanges, the traders may contribute, and the exchange or platform may contribute also or separately. In some embodiments, a challenge may be given to the traders or the exchange for a contribution made by any member of the system, or a specific participant of the system. Thus, the traders and or the exchange may be the contributor, or in other embodiments, may be in additional to a contributor.
There are many different portfolios embodiments. The customer, user, merchant, exchange, traders, contributor, social media platforms, social media users, and others involved in the process of challenge to receiving the contribution. There may be a clear match to determine which specific charity or organization receives the contribution. In other cases, there may not be a clear match. Because there are many possible embodiments of how the recipient of the contribution is determined, the application may need to use a likelihood, threshold, predictive, or machine learning process to determine when a portfolio is likely to be selected as a charity to receive the contribution. In one nonlimiting embodiment, all the different portfolios with individual charities or organizations may have different characteristics. The application determines the characteristics of the charity, such as the type of organization, projects, collaborations or associations, the members, the works, the donations, the social media associated with the charity, the comments around the charity, the endorsements of the charity, etc. The application may then determine a value. If the charity has a value over a set threshold, then the charity will be selected as the closest charity to a “match” based on all the charities identified in all the portfolios and characteristics in common. In one nonlimiting embodiment, feeding the hungry may be a common characteristic and the app will look for all the charities that do work related to feeding the hungry. In other examples, when there is no match, then the system may look outside of the portfolios for a possible likely match.
When there are multiple portfolios, contributions may be evenly distributed to all members of the selected portfolio, or those members that have a value over a threshold. In other examples, there may be a percentage distribution of the contribution based on the value determined. In other examples, only certain portfolios or recipients within a portfolio may be determined to receive the contribution. In some embodiments, the user may input who should receive the contribution, from a determine list or entered in by the user. The application may also suggest similar types of charities based on portfolio characteristics that the user could select from.
In other embodiments, the method of facilitating donations comprising charging, by a provider, a customer a price for a good or service when the customer purchases said good or service using an application executed on a computing device, wherein the provider has a provider portfolio of multiple charities. In some embodiments, the method disclose may include challenging the provider to make a customer contribution, to at least one charity in a customer portfolio of charities, of part of the price or in addition to the price, wherein the challenge is made in response to the purchase. In some embodiments, the method disclosed may further include determining the provider making the customer contribution to the portfolio of multiple charities when at least one charity in the customer portfolio matches at least one charity in the provider portfolio of multiple charities matches at least one charity in the customer portfolio of charities, where the match is at least partially based on customer preferences. In yet other embodiments, the may further include contributing to the match at least one charity of the customer portfolio, wherein the provider makes the provider contribution.
In one aspect, the provider contribution comprises a fixed percentage of the price, or a fixed fee for each transaction. The method may further comprise using a server to store at least one of the portfolio of customer charities, the portfolio of provider charities, and the match based on customer preferences. In one aspect, the at least one computing device may be in communication with the server, wherein the server is part of a network. The computing device may comprise at least one of a mobile device, laptop, electronic notebook, desktop computer, smartwatch, tablet, smart phone, smart watch, and other electronic computing devices.
The provided donation facilitation system and method can enable a donor, such as a customer, provider, or both to challenge another entity, such as a provider, to make a provider contribution to a customer portfolio of multiple charities set up by the customer upon, for example, the purchase of a good or service from the provider. The disclosed portfolio donation facilitation system can allow the provider to create his or her own provider portfolio of multiple charities and make a provider contribution to a customer's portfolio of multiple charities when at least one component of the provider's portfolio of multiple charities matches at least one component of the customer's portfolio of multiple charities. In some embodiment, the disclosed method further includes using a server to store the portfolio of customer charities, the portfolio of provider charities, or both.
In this disclosure the term:
“additional contribution” refers to an extra payment made by a customer or consumer to the customer's portfolio when making a purchase from a provider;
“challenge” refers to an amount that the customer requests the provider to contribute to a customer portfolio of multiple charities;
“computing device” is a type of electronic device and includes but is not limited to mobile devices, desktop computers, mainframe computers, payment consoles, electronic payment device, credit card device, customer order device or other electronic computing devices;
“customer” refers to an individual or organization that receives goods or service associated with an executable application that communicates through a network system;
“customer portfolio” refers to a collection of multiple charities set up by a customer or consumer that typically includes from about 1 to about 10 or even more charities and is stored in a system server;
“donor advised fund” refers to a dedicated fund, often associated with a financial institution, that collects and stores donations to portfolios (and can earn interest or be a charity itself) and then can distribute or split the donations among the charities in the portfolio according to the rules for distribution of donations to portfolios;
“electronic device” refers to a broader term for ‘computing device’ and includes mobile devices, desktop computers, payment devices, order devices, purchase devices, mainframe computers or other electronic computing devices;
“fixed fee” refers to a fee that is a specific amount and particularly refers to a fee that is charged based upon a transaction and not based upon the amount of the transaction;
“fixed percentage” refers to a fee that is a percentage amount of a transaction; “match” refers to an at least partially similar characteristics of compared charities based on characteristics of the charity;
“mobile device” refers to smart phones, tablets, laptop computers, or any other portable computing device;
“payment network” refers to a way to move money from one party to another and, unless transactions happen in cash, require a payment system for a smooth transaction.
“preferences” and “preferred” refer to the likelihood that the customer would select the charity for donation and may be based on customer activity on applications and may include entered data.
“price” refers to the amount of money that is expected by a provider from a customer or consumer to obtain a desired good or service. Typically, the price is posted by the provider and is the undiscounted, regular cost of the good or service;
“provider” refers to an entity that offers goods or services for a price or a fee to a customer or consumer. A provider can be a bank or savings institution such as a credit union, a processor/payment network, card networks, merchants, virtual currency providers/holders, or individuals;
“provider contribution” refers to a payment made by the provider to the customer's portfolio of charities; in some embodiments the provider contribution is independent of whether or not a customer contribution was made. The provider contribution may be made based on at least one of a match, the purchase price, a percentage, and fixed amount. Another embodiment may include when there is no customer purchase and the provider contributes anyway.
“provider portfolio” refers to a collection of at least one charity set up by a provider and the information may be stored in a system server in association with the provider;
“rounded-up” or “round-up” refers to the process of agreeing to pay a price for a good or service and then adding an additional amount (for charitable purposes) to the price to the next dollar or a higher payment amount;
“rules for distribution of donations to portfolios” refers to predetermined splits with predetermined ratios for disseminating funds amassed by portfolios into the charities contained in that portfolio; and
“virtual currency” or “cryptocurrency” refers to a collection of binary data which is designed to work as a medium of exchange wherein individual coin ownership records are stored in a ledger which is a computerized database using strong cryptography to secure transaction records, to control the creation of additional coins, and to verify the transfer of coin ownership.
“Vetted” and “Vetting” and “Vet” may relate to an identified charity that is in a portfolio that has not been reviewed. It may relate to a more thorough set of requirements to become a member of a portfolio. In other embodiments, the term may relate to a review process to determine if the charity may be part of a receiving portfolio. In other embodiments, the term may refer to an official identification of charity or association with reputable organizations, and/or meets minimum standards, and/or based on conduct and actions of the organization, but not limited to these parameters and could apply a limited to a wide variety of factors. There are many levels of “vetting” and vetted charities that can be listed, from simply adding to a portfolio without any review or standard all the way to a thorough review of all associated information related to the organization.
The above summary is not intended to describe each disclosed embodiment of every implementation of the present disclosure. The brief description of the drawings and the detailed description which follows more particularly exemplify illustrative embodiments. In the drawings, the layers are not necessarily drawn to scale.
Various customer interfaces and embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals represent like parts and assemblies throughout the several views. Reference to various embodiments does not limit the scope of the claims attached hereto. Additionally, any examples set forth in this specification are not intended to be limiting and merely set forth some of the many possible embodiments for the appended claims. It is understood that various omissions and substitutions of equivalents are contemplated as circumstances may suggest or render expedient, but these are intended to cover applications or embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims attached hereto. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
Retailers often ask customers or consumers if they would like to round-up a purchase of a good or service to the nearest dollar for a charity selected by that store. However, this can be an unfulfilling experience for the retailer or the customer for a number of reasons. First, the customer may not care about the charity selected by the store for the retailer contribution. Second, it is rare that confirmation is received that the donation ever makes it to the charity. Lastly, the verbal back-and-forth with the retailer can take time and can be annoying or embarrassing. In other words, it's not a personal experience based on the customer's preferences, nor is the process efficient in real-time with the purchase. In other examples, it also doesn't allow the customer to maintain a portfolio of preferences, which may be determined by the computing device, usage of applications executed on the computing device, saved lists, predetermined charities, and/or a user selection, which in some embodiments may be based on a search or a list. In some embodiments, the information is stored on the computing device, in a customer account, or a remote server in communication with a network and/or with the computing device. In some instances, the computing device may communicate with the network or other executable applications to determine charities and donation information and in real-time. The computing device may use the charity selection or contribution information to update the customer preference information, so that the next retailer purchase will use the information, as well as other user preference information, to determine the user's preferences. This disclosure makes the contribution to at least one charity more personal and expedites the process.
Providers often ask customers or consumers if they would like to “round-up” a purchase of a good or service to the nearest dollar for a charity selected by that store. However, this can be an unfulfilling experience for the provider or the customer for a number of reasons. First, the customer may not care about the charity selected for the provider contribution. Second, it is rare that confirmation is received that the donation ever makes it to the charity. Lastly, the verbal back-and-forth with the provider can take time and can be annoying or embarrassing.
The system presented herein turns this system upside down by empowering the customer to challenge the provider to “round-up” or to add an amount over a purchase price of the good or service for the customer's charity of choice, or portfolio of charities. In some embodiments, the provider can offer a discount from the purchase price to the consumer in exchange for having the provider make up at least a portion of the discount to the customer's portfolio of multiple charities. There are different embodiments of when the provider makes the contribution. In some, the provider may contribute when the challenge is made, and in some embodiments, when the customer also contributes. In other embodiments, the provider contribution may be made independent of the customer's contribution, such as if the customer does not make a contribution. In this way, the customer still “challenges” the provider to make a donation even if the customer is not donating themselves, or independent of a customer contribution. In other embodiments, the provided system also can also send a notification to both the provider and the customer when the donation is eventually made to the end charity or portfolio of charities. In the provided system, the charitable transaction can occur automatically in a digital conversation that can happen in the background. Essentially, the provider can reward the customer for the customer's business by donating to a charity or portfolio of charities of the customer's choice.
In some embodiments, the system disclosed in the provided disclosure may be incorporated directly into a digital wallet on a mobile device. In other embodiments, the provided disclosure may be a standalone application on a mobile device that interfaces with a digital wallet or links to a real credit card or a virtual currency. In yet other embodiments, the provided disclosure may include a “bill-pay” application on a banking website. The provided system can allow the consumer to aggregate donations in a charitable portfolio. The provided system can allow the provider to make a single donation that is distributed to multiple charities at the same time. The system can further permit various types of communication, including social media communication and notification, related to donation and aggregation activity.
Copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/153,313, filed Jan. 20, 2021 (Soderstrom) discloses a “CONSUMER CONTROLLED PORTFOLIO CHARITABLE GIVING SYSTEM AND METHOD”. In this application systems and methods are disclosed that allow a donor, such as a retailer, to make a retailer contribution to a portfolio of multiple charities set up by the donor upon, for example, the purchase of a good or service from the retailer.
Copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/533,445, filed Aug. 6, 2019 (Soderstrom) discloses a “CONSUMER CONTROLLED CHARITABLE GIVING SYSTEM”. In this application systems and methods are disclosed that allow a donor, such as a retailer, to make a retailer contribution to a portfolio of multiple charities set up by the donor upon, for example, the purchase of a good or service from the retailer.
Copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/181,781, filed on Jun. 14, 2016 (Soderstrom) discloses a “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FACILITATING DONATIONS”. In this application methods and systems are disclosed that allows using a computer system that includes at least one server and at least one computing device, that can be a mobile device, to communicably couple the server to the device through a communication network. In some embodiments, the method includes a provider charging a customer a price, the customer offering to make an electronic payment for the price through the computing device, the computing device presenting and customer contribution option to the customer, the customer selecting the customer contribution option, either upon activating the technology, or the technology executing prestored payment option, and making the customer contribution to a donor advised fund. In some embodiments, the customer contribution can be a “rounded-up” amount that the customer adds on to the provider's price with the intention that it will be directed to a charity of the customer's choosing.
Copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/532,874 (also, Soderstrom) filed on the same day herewith, to a “PORTFOLIO CHARITABLE GIVING SYSTEM” that discloses a method and systems of facilitating donations that includes a donor making a charitable donation to a portfolio that includes multiple charities set up by a customer or donor that, in some embodiments, can be a customer or consumer. The method and system include rules set up by the donor for distributing the charitable donation among the charities in the portfolio in a single step at a predetermined time. The rules can be changed by the donor as well as the make-up of the portfolio of charities.
The provided disclosure relates to systems and methods that allow a customer or consumer to challenge a provider to contribute to, to match, or to exceed a customer contribution made to a portfolio of charities upon a purchase of a good or service. The customer can direct a customer contribution to be made to the customer's portfolio of multiple charities and then can “challenge” the provider to make a challenge contribution. In some embodiments, the customer or the provider portfolio of multiple charities may contain only one charity. In some embodiments, the provider may not agree to contribute the whole amount in the consumer's challenge but may be willing to give a portion of the challenged amount to the customer's portfolio. The provider contribution to the customer portfolio of multiple charities can be a fixed percentage of the purchase price of the good or service, a fixed fee based upon the purchase transaction, or, in some embodiments both a fixed percentage and a fixed fee.
As an example, when a customer swipes a MASTERCARD credit card, typically there is a 2.9% fee for the use of software since financial institutions, processors, payment networks, card networks, and providers are all software providers in financial technology. On a $100 purchase, this 2.9% would amount to $2.90. Every entity in the software chain who makes the transaction happen gets a portion of the $2.90. Typically, the issuing bank (the bank that issued the credit card) gets the largest share. The card network (such as MASTERCARD) gets the smallest share since the bank works hardest to win and keep the customer. The processors also get a cut of the fee. Of the $2.90 fee from this example, some of the providers involved in the transaction(s) might be willing to give a portion of their cut to charity. In fact, one processor already gives 7 cents per card swipe to charity. This processor gives to charity to encourage use of their card through loyalty more than for direct revenue.
Typically, the customer contributions and provider contributions are held in a donor advised fund. This fund, which can additionally be a charitable fund, can be used to escrow the customer contributions and contributions to the customer's portfolio and collect them until, at a predetermined time as, for example, at the end of a week, a month, a quarter, a year, or any other time period, money in the donor advised fund can be distributed to the charities in the customer's portfolio according to rules that have been established by the curator of the customer's portfolio. Alternatively, the funds may be distributed directly to the end charities. The curator can be the customer him or herself, or another entity, which maintains the charitable portfolio by swapping charities in and out of the portfolio. In some embodiments, the curator can be or can act at the direction of a giving circle or group of people (or club) that come together to determine, as a group, sometimes by a vote, which charities to list in the portfolio.
The provided disclosure relates to systems and methods that allow a customer or consumer to challenge a retailer to contribute to, match, or exceed a customer contribution (in addition to the price) made to a portfolio of vetted charities. The customer can direct an customer contribution to be made to the customer's portfolio of vetted multiple charities and then can “challenge” the retailer to make an retailer contribution. Typically, the customer contributions and retailer contributions are held in a donor advised fund. This fund, which can additionally be a charitable fund, is used to escrow the customer contributions and contributions to the customer's portfolio and collect them until, at a predetermined time as, for example, at the end of a week, a month, a quarter, a year, or any other time period, money in the donor advised fund is distributed to the vetted charities in the customer's portfolio according to rules that have been established by the curator of the customer's portfolio. Alternatively, the funds may be distributed directly to the end charities. The curator can be the customer him or herself, or another entity, which maintains the charitable portfolio by swapping charities in and out of the portfolio. In some embodiments, the curator can be or can act at the direction of a giving circle or group of people (or club) that come together to determine, as a group, sometimes by a vote, which charities to list in the portfolio.
A curator (who may be an individual such as a customer or a provider) can construct a portfolio that includes some of his or her favorite charities. In other embodiments, a portfolio can include a larger number of individual charities. In some embodiments, the charities can have a theme or be related in one way or another (for example, the charities can comprise local school PTA organizations or Boy/Girl scouts). In other embodiments, the portfolio can include charities with a theme such as environmental, medical research, philanthropic goal-oriented themes or others. In some other embodiments the charities are only related to each other in that they are selected by the curator for personal reasons.
In some embodiments, a donation facilitation system is provided that can include a server programmed and configured to host a payment system. The server can be in communication with a mobile device of a customer or consumer and also in communication with an electronic device of a provider. The customer can be provided with an opportunity to make an electronic payment into the payment system of a price charged by a provider for a good or service. The server can be in communication with a mobile device (such as a smart phone of the provider or customer) or another electronic device (of either the provider or the customer). In some embodiments, the server can host a payment system. Exemplary systems that can be useful in this disclosure include CHANGEUP, or KICKSTARTER or other platforms that include electronic payment collection and distribution functions. The provided disclosure will focus on the CHANGEUP platform as an example but should not be construed to be limited only to this platform. There are many others.
In one embodiment presented herein, both providers and customers can join the CHANGEUP platform and can create their own portfolios. The portfolio may hold anywhere from 1 to one million charities. In some embodiments, a customer may have a portfolio that has about 10 charities and a provider may have a portfolio that has, for example, 61,212 charities (“all public high schools in America”) plus all environmental organizations, and also the American Red Cross.
Then, by way of example, the CHANGEUP platform can allow these two portfolios to communicate with each other to determine if any of the charitable members of each of the two portfolios match. After a consumer has linked his payment method to the platform, the consumer can go out and use a payment method such as a credit or debit card. When the payment method is used at a provider that has also joined the platform, the provided system can determine if the customer and the provider share an affinity for at least one charity in their respective portfolios (or if there is a match between one or more charities in the customer's portfolio and the provider's portfolio). If there is a match of at least one or more charities in each portfolio then the provider will be notified via a report that funds will be withdrawn from the provider's linked payment method account and sent to that particular charity on behalf of the customer. In some embodiments, rules can be set up by either the customer or the provider that more than one charity needs to match before the funds are transferred.
In the provided but not limiting example, CHANGEUP can compare the portfolio of the customer and the portfolio of the provider to find one or more matches. If there are one or more matches then CHANGEUP may add customer contributions or provider contributions based upon rules or rankings set up and applied by the consumer and the provider, individually, on each of their respective portfolios. If a match is found, then funds can be transferred from the provider into a donor advised fund that will hold the funds until they are distributed to the respective charities in common with both portfolios according to the distribution frequency and rules set up for the platform.
Providers may show a physical symbol or sticker that announces the ability for a customer to utilize the present invention at that provider's place of business and therefore partner with that provider (in a way) support their customer's portfolios of charitable contributions. Additionally, providers can support their own portfolios of charitable organizations for reasons such as attracting customer to their products, pursing their own altruistic goals, or to decrease their tax liability.
It is also contemplated that providers can include banks, savings institutions, credit unions, other financial institutions, and trading exchanges. They can, as a provider, offer customer contributions to charities of the customer's choice in order to attract additional business.
In some embodiments, processors can include payment networks. Examples of common payment networks today include VISA, MASTERCARD, and MAESTRO, to name a few. Other non-limiting examples of payment networks include financial services providers such as, for example, FIRST DATA, FiSERVE, STRIPE, ADMEN and others.
In some embodiments, a provider may have a non-profit organization or fundraising campaign that it supports (for example, the Red Cross), and a customer can elect to donate rounded up amount to the provider's campaign, and/or split the rounded-up amount between the provider's campaign and the customer's campaign.
In another embodiment, the customer can designate or be notified by specific providers in advance and receive location-specific messages (via GPS, Wi-Fi, or other location technologies), offers or benefits when in proximity to a provider participating in the program. The customer can also designate certain non-profits or charitable institutions whose location may trigger similar notices or messages. Thus, the customer on foot could be alerted to the existence of a provider or non-profit and engage in a purchase, yielding additional savings, or make a donation.
A customer may assign an identifier such as a name, number, or moniker to the customer's personal fundraising cause. This identifier can be associated with that customer's efforts to raise money. The customer can utilize that name or number to recruit friends to a particular fundraising campaign. This can also cause location-specific notices to be sent to friends when they are in physical proximity to a participating provider or designated non-profit.
In some embodiments, the rounded-up amount may be incorporated into an online retail store and catalogue where customers can round up their purchases, but also share with others their own “store” on social networking sites that promote products they like.
In some embodiments, the provided disclosure can track the spending habits of an individual instead of, or in addition to, operating as a payment system. The system can read the individual's payment or donation history and can offer analyses of the data, such as amount spent over the previous week, month, year, etc. In some embodiments, the disclosed system and method can be integrated with social media and social networking sites. The system can be a social media platform that uses an algorithm to measure, accumulate, and direct customer's transactional “round-up” on purchases into fundraising campaigns.
The integration of the disclosed system and method with social networking sites can allow customers to lead, promote and contribute to fundraising campaigns using a previously designated character or combination of characters that is/are inter-operable with a mobile application or any other application that relates to the present invention, like a digital wallet application, and allows customers to automatically apply their rounded up amounts to a non-profit organization or fundraising campaign of their choosing. The “rounded-up” amounts may be applied on a one-time basis in some examples or may be applied for a specified period of time (i.e., one month).
In some embodiments, the disclosed application may send a notification to the customer or to the recipient of funds (for example, a non-profit organization or fundraising campaign) when funds are donated using the system. These notifications may be sent to a customer or fund recipient through a social network, such as TWITTER or FACEBOOK, or may be sent by other delivery routes such as email or text message. Updates to a customer's social networking profile related to the present invention can be done in any way that is allowed by the social networking site, for example by use of a personal computer, smart phone or other mobile device.
The present disclosure can also be used in social media to facilitate gamification of fundraising campaigns. More specifically, the invention can not only provide technology that allows customers to “round-up” their purchases, but also can bundle those “round-up” purchases into a larger marketplace that can assigns values and can directs those values to a specific campaign.
For example, a customer can choose a specific organization or a general category, such as climate change, for a fundraising effort to which they want to donate. If the customer chooses to donate to a general category, the specific organization that will receive the donation can be dependent upon the organization's social media presence, with the organization that receives the most social media attention being the organization that also receives the most, or all, of the general category donations.
In one embodiment, customers can elect, at the time of the donation, whether or not their donations are subject to the various competitions or challenges. Alternatively, customers can opt out of the competition and simply assign their donations to a single cause of their choice. In another embodiment of the competition or challenge, customers may be able to create a one on one competition, wherein each customer supports a specific organization and the customers attempt to increase their representative organization's scores by having other customers donate to one of the two organizations in the competition. One example of where this type of competition could be especially effective is when public figures, such as celebrities, engage in a public competition to bring awareness to causes and to foster friendly competition among fans. In one embodiment, at the end of the competition, the organization that has the highest score can win the other organization's accumulated donations.
In a further embodiment, concerts, sporting events, and retail outlets can compete against each other to send all of their “round-up” transactions to pre-chosen causes. For example, all National Football League (NFL) stadiums in a given day can compete against each other to see which stadium's fan base can bring the most attention to a local cause on social media. The stadium that ends the competition with the greatest number of points (for example, by using a formula similar to the one described above) can win all of the “round-up” donations for that week.
In one embodiment, leaderboards can be created for individual customers. For example, each customer can be rated according to the total number or total value of “round-up” donations the customer generates and the amount of social media interactions the customer receives. The individual leaderboard can be determined using a formula similar to the variations described above. Customers can then compete against each other to generate the greatest number or value of “round-up” donations for a particular cause, such as, but not limited to, an alma mater, non-governmental organization, political campaign, hospital campaign, etc. In one embodiment, as motivation, the top ten leaders on each leaderboard for each category of cause can get special treatment from that cause.
In some embodiments, customers can track their donations and voluntarily donate to their campaign even if they are not making a purchase. This may enable a customer to be placed on a leaderboard or be placed further up on the leaderboard for a specific month. By enabling competitive donations, the system may encourage individuals to share leaderboard news on social media and/or challenge others. In some embodiments, if a customer is a leader over a predetermined amount of time (i.e., twelve months), the customer can be rewarded.
In one embodiment, customers who have amassed a pre-defined threshold of “round-up” donations or who have become top customers through the leaderboard can operate as “bundlers”. Bundlers can be trusted leaders in the donation community who are eligible to receive the “round-up” donations from other customers who trust the bundler to disperse the funds wisely. Further, a bundler can receive a small commission for each customer the bundler invites to use the system, thus building the bundler's value with every customer recruited.
In some embodiments, bundlers can operate as a form of electoral college, wherein all of the bundler's constituents move “round-up” donations through them. This can infuse the provided system with politics, competition, and lobbying that allows for dynamic interactions. If a customer does not want to be involved in this type of system, however, the customer can opt out of the leaderboard feature and simply engage as a standalone experience where the customer has a direct relationship with the cause the customer is benefitting. This would be appropriate if a customer was donating to, for example, a grandchild's college fund.
Millions of people may round up amounts on purchases daily, therefore contributing large amounts of monies into a central holding fund, which may operate as a bank of sorts, or a mutual fund that grows, earns interest, virtual currency and stake in the virtual currency, and delivers dividends. Therefore, a customer can “donate” to his or her own account in order to save or invest money.
In the embodiment of virtual currency or cryptocurrency, those in the system or that have accounts ledger, which is a computerized database using strong cryptography to secure transaction records, to control the creation of additional coins, and to verify the transfer of coin ownership. Depending on the scheme of the virtual, or crypto, currency, some crypto schemes use validators to maintain the cryptocurrency. In a proof-of-stake model, owners put up their tokens as collateral. In return, they get authority over the token in proportion to the amount they stake. In this way, a portion may be transferred when a challenge is made to a virtual currency holder, staker/stakeholder, or any part of the decentralized system. In other embodiments of cryptocurrency, contributions may be based on additional ownership in the token over time via network fees that a staker may receive, or based on newly minted tokens or other such reward mechanisms. Cryptocurrency does not exist in physical form (like paper money) and is typically not issued by a central authority, and due to the structure, the contribution may be made by any member or the system. Cryptocurrencies typically use decentralized control as opposed to a central bank digital currency (CBDC), and so the regulations may not apply. In some embodiments, the virtual currency and/or the virtual exchange may be the contributor or in additional to at least one other contributor. In other embodiments, the members may be the contributor or an additional contributor.
In some other embodiments, another party such as a foundation may also participate in the customer challenging a provider and may add an additional contribution to the customer's portfolio, perhaps as an incentive to shop at the provider.
In another embodiment, customers may compete with each other in a contest for the greatest number of contributions per time period, the largest sum total of contributions per time period, or other statistics related to use of a customer challenge. Additionally, a “lottery” type of system can be used such as picking a number of contributions that would be the winner in any given time period. These competitions or lotteries can have provider contributions to the charity or to the customer as a prize and can be used as an incentive to promote use of the customer challenge system.
As noted, the provided system and methods can work in combination with existing digital wallet applications or be its own digital wallet application with the “round-up” functionality and social network engagement embedded therein.
Turning now to the Figures which exemplify parts of the provided system and methods,
Customer portfolio 102 is stored in server 103 and is in communication with a payment system stored therein. Provider 104 offers a good or service for a price. Customer 105 wishes to purchase the good or price from the provider through payment system 108. In one embodiment, customer 105 can offer to pay the price along with a customer contribution (which may be a “round-up” to the nearest dollar) as shown in 106. Payment system 108 which is in communication with server 103 takes the payment 106 from the customer and then pays the price to provider 104. Provider 104 has also offered to customer 105 to pay a provider contribution 109 through payment system 108. The customer contribution 110 offered by customer 105 and the provider contribution offered by provider 104 are then transferred from payment system 108 to a donor advised fund 112 and then eventually paid to the charities in customer portfolio 102 according to rules set up for the distribution of funds to the individual charities in the customer's portfolio. In some embodiments, the additional contribution 106 or 109 can be distributed directly to charities in customer portfolio 114. In
In the none limiting example of
On May 9, three transactions are shown in the screen shot of
In some examples, contribution module 1162 may interact with application(s) 1158 may include an application module(s) on the computing device 1102 to acquire additional information or data. Application(s) 1158 may include a module (not illustrated) and may be referred to singularly as application 1158 or collectively as application(s) 1158. Applications 1158 may include a camera app, a video app, a shopping app, a donation app, a goods or services app, a profile or settings app with personal preferences, fingerprint app, security fingerprint access program, banking app, financial app, credit card app, microphone app, and other apps that may include programs or hardware interaction for shopping, and in some embodiments, for charitable donations.
In other embodiments, purchase module 1156 may be a type of shopping app, or in other embodiments, it may be a different module that accesses customer purchasing data and/or data for goods and services for sale. When purchase module 1156 is executed, data may be sent to charitable module 1162 regarding the purchase of good(s) or services(s). In one unlimiting instance, the customer may make a challenge for the provider to make a contribution to a charity or multiple charities. The challenge may be made when purchase module 1156 is executed or when the purchase information is sent to contribution module 1162. Contribution module 1162 then executes the protocols and procedures to determine the charities as described herein with charity module 1166 and matching module 1168.
In some instances, price information may be included in the data sent to contribution module 1162. In some examples, data is shared between applications 1158 and purchase module 1156. For example, the data shared may be regarding purchases made using applications 1158 and other data used to show customer preferences for certain goods or services. For example, if the customer was posting on a social media app about playing tennis, then the goods advertised for purchase may be related to new tennis clothing or equipment.
Contribution module 1162 may receive data from purchase module 1156 about the purchase and about user (customer) preferences. Preferences are not limited to goods, services, geographical location, posts on social media, emails, data received by microphone, data from camera, etc. Preferences may be based on the customer entering information into a customer account, on a profile or account setting, date, person's back ground, etc. Contribution module 1162 may communicate with charity module 1166 to determine a list of at least one charity that the customer may be interested in contributing to. In some embodiments, charity module 1166 may have a predetermined list of preferred charities identified or selected by the user. In some aspects, the information may be saved in a customer portfolio 1170. In some embodiments, charity module 1166 may use data associated with customer preferences form purchase module 1156 and/or application(s) 1158 to determine charities that the customer may prefer to contribute to. Charity module 1166 may then send to matching module 1168 the list of determined charities. Matching module 1168 may then compare the determine list with a list or portfolio of charities of the provider. In some aspects, the provider's portfolio is a list that the provider has already contributed to or a list of approved charities that the provider would contribute to. The list may be stored in provider portfolio 1172. In some embodiments, the charities in the provider portfolio are already approved, and in some embodiments, a request is sent to the provider for approval, so that the provider adds the requested charity to a list of accepted charities, for example by saving the charity in the provider's provider portfolio 1172, to be listed as a possible recipient of a provider contribution to the charity. In other examples, the provider may receive information from that network about charities available and preferred by the provider. Charity module 1166 may communicate through communication (comm) channels 1150 with a network to get information that is associated with the provider, and in some embodiments associated with the customer and/or the purchase. A selection of charities is made by the matching module 1168, where the customer portfolio of associated charities matches or likely similar to the providers list of provider portfolio, which is a list of charities associated with the preferences of the provider. The selection of charities made by the matching module 1168 may be stored in match data 1174 in association with the provider, and in some embodiments, in addition to the customer or alternatively in association with the customer. The match data 1174 may also or alternatively have the stored matched data. Portfolios of charity data and contributions may be updated and stored in customer portfolio 1170 and/or provider portfolio 1172 accordingly. Additional payments with virtual currency, when used may also be stored in customer portfolio 1170.
Storage devices, in some examples such as in storage device(s) 1148, have the primary purpose of being short term and not long-term computer-readable storage mediums. Storage devices on computing device may be configured for short-term storage of information as volatile memory and therefore not retain stored contents if powered off. Examples of volatile memories include random access memories (RAM), dynamic random access memories (DRAM), static random access memories (SRAM), and other forms of volatile memories known in the art. Storage devices may further be configured for long-term storage of information as non-volatile memory space and retain information after power on/off cycles. Examples of non-volatile memories include magnetic hard discs, optical discs, floppy discs, flash memories, or forms of electrically programmable memories (EPROM) or electrically erasable and programmable (EEPROM) memories. Storage devices may store program instructions and/or data associated with user interface module, purchase module, contribution module, charity module, matching module, operating system, financial module (not illustrated), and applications (e.g., using one of user settings datastore, account datastore, customer portfolio datastore, provider portfolio datastore, match datastore, and other none illustrated datastore). One or more processors may implement functionality and/or execute instructions within computing device. For example, processors on computing device may read and execute instructions stored by storage devices that execute the functionality of user interface, purchase transaction, account log in, application execution, customer profile updates, portfolio updates, selection of charity, entry of contribution amount identity, match and communication, operating system, and other applications. These instructions executed by processors may cause computing device to store information within storage devices during program execution, such as user settings, determined charity (portfolio); determined contribution; determined match; financial information; or associated with one or more of applications. Processors may execute instructions of determining contribution module to determine the charity(ies) of the portfolio, to determine contribution to the matched charity or charities, to determine the emergency care plan of the patient, and send contact communication and data. Computing device may include user interface (“UI”) module, biometrics module, identity module, and virtual currency module, that may interact with applications executed on the computing device. Computing device may use more than charity to determine the preference. Computing device 1102 may execute modules with multiple processors. Computing device may execute modules as a virtual machine executing on underlying hardware. UI module may receive data from components associated with computing device, such customer portfolio data or charity data or purchase data or contribution data or currency data. Using the data, UI module may cause other components associated with computing device to provide output based on the data.
In some embodiments, preferences are determined by assigning a value to the charity, or the data associated with a charity. When the value associated with the data, or the overall aggregate value associated with the charity, then the charity module 1166 may select that charity as a preferred charity that the user is likely to contribute to. The data around the transaction or purchase may also be used as part of the preference determination. Such as the date, purchase type, goods or services purchased, geographic region, current events, etc. The provider's portfolio may be predetermined or use similar likelihood techniques. Preference data, such as values associated with the charity, may be stored in the respective data store, such as customer portfolio 1170 associated with the customer and provider portfolio 1172 in association with the provider.
Matching module 1168 may use techniques for matching similarly. Such as using preference or likelihood techniques for determining that the charity associated with the customer or in the customer portfolio “matches” or has a strong likelihood of a match to a charity in the providers portfolio. Each respective portfolio may contain one charity or a plurality of charities that is more than one charity. Matching module 1168 then selects the matching charities and sends them to the contribution module 1162. The contribution module may send them to UI module 1152 to create a graphical display that can be output as a GUI at presence-sensitive screen. Similarly, mating may also determine a preferred type of currency, such as crypto currency, that is preferred when using the computing device, and allows the user to confirm the currency, or automatically selects the currency for the contribution. Matching module 1168 may also determine that the charity accepts crypto currency, or the selected currency, prior to selecting the currency associated with the contribution.
The customer may enter information at the GUI for completing the transaction, such as confirming purchase of identification of a particular matched charity, when multiple matched charities are matched. In other instances, the provider may make the contribution to the matched charity (charities) upon completion of the purchase. In other instances, the request to make the purchase may be sent to the provider to execute the provider contribution to the matched charity. In this way, the provider directly makes the contribution. The amount of the contribution is described herein and may be at least one of a rounded amount based on the purchase price or total a set amount, or a percentage of the purchase amount. Other methods for determining the contribution about are also within the scope of the disclosure
Any entered data at the GUI and any match data or likelihood data may be stored in association with the charity, purchase, customer, provider, or any combination thereof in the respective data storage location of storage device(s) 1148. Provider information of contributing the contribution to the charity or portfolio of charities may also be stored for future challenges. This data may then be utilized for future challenges and to determine preferences of the customer when future purchases are made. Other data received from the network may also be stored at storage device(s) 1148.
The amount is donated by the retailer to the charity, which is listed as “For Friends of Ivanhoe School.” 1204 In one embodiment, the retailer donated to the school directly when the transaction was occurring. This is a type of instant contribution. In another embodiment, the micro-donations may not occur “when the transaction was occurring,” but instead, may occur at a point after the transaction occurrence. As one further embodiment, when the contribution is after the transaction, the merchant may hold the funds for a period that can be seconds, minutes, days, months, etc., and then the merchant (or other “holder” of the funds) receives an invoice at the end of month much like sales tax. This and other examples of payment timing and process are within the scope of this disclosure.
The various embodiments described above are provided by way of illustration only and should not be construed to limit the claims attached hereto. Those skilled in the art will readily recognize various modifications and changes that may be made without following the example embodiments and applications illustrated and described herein and without departing from the true spirit and scope of the following claims.
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/394,388, filed Aug. 24, 2021, and titled, “CONSUMER CONTROLLED PORTFOLIO CHARITABLE GIVING SYSTEM AND METHOD,” which is in turn a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/153,313, filed Jan. 20, 2021, and titled, “CONSUMER CONTROLLED PORTFOLIO CHARITABLE GIVING SYSTEM AND METHOD,” which is in turn a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/533,445, filed Aug. 6, 2019, and titled, “CONSUMER CONTROLLED CHARITABLE GIVING SYSTEM,” which is in turn a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/532,874 filed on Aug. 6, 2019, and titled, “PORTFOLIO CHARITABLE GIVING SYSTEM,” which in turn claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Pat. Appl. No. 62/851,552, filed May 22, 2019, with the same title. This application is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/181,781, filed Jun. 14, 2016, and titled, “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FACILITATING DONATIONS”, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/625,612, filed Feb. 18, 2015 and a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/738,949, filed Jan. 10, 2013 which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Appl. Ser. No. 16/610,912, filed Mar. 14, 2012 and U.S. Provisional Appl. Ser. No. 61/585,075, filed Jan. 10, 2012. All of these applications are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62851452 | May 2019 | US | |
| 61610912 | Mar 2012 | US | |
| 61585075 | Jan 2012 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
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| Parent | 17394388 | Aug 2021 | US |
| Child | 17511764 | US | |
| Parent | 17153313 | Jan 2021 | US |
| Child | 17394388 | US | |
| Parent | 16533445 | Aug 2019 | US |
| Child | 17153313 | US | |
| Parent | 16532874 | Aug 2019 | US |
| Child | 16533445 | US | |
| Parent | 15181781 | Jun 2016 | US |
| Child | 16533445 | US | |
| Parent | 14625612 | Feb 2015 | US |
| Child | 15181781 | US | |
| Parent | 13738949 | Jan 2013 | US |
| Child | 14625612 | US |
