Patent Application
20240104610
In general, the present invention relates to systems and methods of donating money to a selected charity or other such organization. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems and methods that use some physical action as a trigger for the donation of funds.
In the Jewish tradition, there was a designated chamber in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem where people could deposit money earmarked for the poor. Those who had fallen on hard times were able to come there and receive sustenance in a respectable manner. In recent centuries, that tradition lives on through the use of tzedakah boxes. Such boxes are found in many Jewish homes and are called pushkas in Yiddish and kuppa in Hebrew.
Many religious, charitable, and service organizations accept receive donations. Many of these organizations rely upon donations to fund their operational expenses. That is, without donations, the organizations could not continue to operate. Since donations are so important to many organizations, there have been many advertising and marketing techniques used to identify donors and obtain ongoing donations. It has been long understood that people are more willing to make a donation to a cause, if the donation process is simple and fast. This is the secret for the success of tzedakah boxes. Donations are made simply by placing money into a conveniently located box. Understanding that making a donation process simple increases donations, many organizations have created software applications that can be run on smart phones to create a donation. Such software applications typically require a user to scan a QR code or visit a website and make a donation. However, the system is complicated by the user having to enter various identifying information and payment information. Accessing the proper website and entering the proper information takes time and effort that dissuades many potential donors.
One way to avoid the hassle of making a donation is to make a donation when paying for a product or service, such as during checkout at a grocery store. In this scenario, the donor already must make a payment. Consequently, adding a small donation to the sum due takes little extra effort. Donation systems that operate at checkout are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 9,076,167 to Sobbani and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0034681 to Kamiya.
Limiting the time of donations to the time of purchase at checkout does have some disadvantages. Many organizations would like to conduct donation campaigns around life events. For example, it would be very beneficial for an Audubon society to ask that that individuals make a donation every time they see a particular type of bird. Likewise, it would be beneficial to a synagogue, mosque, or church if they could ask members to make a donation every time they pray. However, for such donation systems to work, there must be a way to make a donation that is portable and take no substantial effort on the part of the donor.
In the prior art, there are no electronic donation systems that serve the same simple purpose as does a tzedakah boxes. The closest donation systems are software applications on smart devices that take significant time and thought of mind to operate. A need therefore exists for a donation system that enables a person to make a donation at any time, in any place, and requires no more presence of mind and/or time than it takes to press a button. This need is met by the present invention as described and claimed below.
The present invention is a portable donation unit and its method of use in donating funds to a selected organization. The donation unit contains at least one physical button that can be manually depressed by a donor numerous times. The donation unit communicates with an administrative server via a data network.
Each time a physical button on the donation unit is depressed, a pre-selected amount of funds is automatically transferred from an account of the donor to the selected organization. The physical button can be pressed multiple times to make multiple donations. No actions by the donor are required at a time of donation other than manually depressing the physical button.
Each time a physical button is pressed, a pre-selected amount of funds is donated. The donation is subject to pre-selected transaction variables. The pre-selected transaction variables include the amount of funds available to the donor, a maximum donation rate, and a maximum donation amount. The donation is completed each time a physical button is pressed provided the donation does not fall outside the pre-selected transaction variables. By using the donation unit, a donor can make a large number of small donations daily. In this manner, donation programs can be developed where donors are encouraged to make donations during their day as certain life events occur.
For a better understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the following description of exemplary embodiments thereof, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Although the present invention donation system and methodology can be embodied in many ways, only a few exemplary embodiments are illustrated. The exemplary embodiments are being shown for the purposes of explanation and description. The exemplary embodiments are selected in order to set forth some of the best modes contemplated for the invention. The illustrated embodiments, however, are merely exemplary and should not be considered as limiting when interpreting the scope of the appended claims.
Referring to
The donation unit 12 can be placed anywhere in a home, office, store, or vehicle. In this manner, the donation unit 12 can be made highly accessible. For example, suppose a person would like to make a donation to a religious organization every time that person catches himself/herself swearing or every time the individual says a prayer. Using the donation unit 12, that person need only touch the donation unit 12 and the donation is automatically made.
The donation unit 12 is a small portable unit that can be carried in a pocket, placed on a table, or mounted to a wall. The donation unit 12 can be battery powered and/or can be charged with a wall plug. The donation unit 12 communicates wirelessly with a data network 16. If the donation unit 12 is in a building with a router, then the data network 16 is local. The donation unit 12 can communicate with a router 18 using a Bluetooth® connection or a Wi-Fi connection. Alternatively, the donation unit 12 can be provided with a SIM card to communicate with a cellular network 20, should a local network be inaccessible. Regardless of network used, the donation unit 12 communicates, via a computer cloud system 22, with administrative software 24 being run on one or more servers 26. As will be explained, the administrative software 24 initiates a transfer of funds from a selected fund source 28 to the selected organization 14 each time the donation unit 12 is activated. The fund source 28 can be a bank account, brokerage account, trust fund account, or credit card account. The organization 14 can be any organization, person or place that accepts donations. If the organization 14 qualifies as a charity under applicable tax regulations, an electronic receipt is generated by the administrative software 24 for each donation for tax filing purposes.
Referring to
In addition to providing the account information 38, the donor selects certain transaction variables 41. See Block 42. The transaction variables 41 include donation event amount 44, a maximum donation rate 46, and a maximum donation amount 48. The donation event amount 44 is the amount of funds donated each time the donation unit 12 is activated. For example, a donor may setup the donation unit 12 to donate ten dollars each time it is activated. Accordingly, the donation event amount 44 is set at ten dollars. The maximum donation rate 46 sets a maximum amount of funds that can be donated in a selected period of time. For example, a donor may select a maximum donation rate 46 of fifty dollars per hour. This would enable a person to activate the donation unit 12 five times in one hour, assuming each activation donated ten dollars. The maximum donation rate 46 is a safety feature that prevents a child or other unauthorized person from pressing the donation unit 12 excessively. Likewise, the maximum donation rate 46 prevents the donation unit from being accidently activated in a pocket or in the cushions of a couch.
The maximum donation amount 48 selected for the donation unit is another safety feature. The maximum donation amount 48 can be selected for the day, week, month and/or year. In this manner, if a donor would like to limit donations to $1000 dollars per month, then the donation unit 12 will automatically stop donations once this maximum value has been achieved.
Once the account information 38 and the transaction variables 41 are set, the donation unit 12 is ready for use. See Block 49. To use the donation unit 12, the donation unit 12 is pressed or otherwise manually manipulated to begin a transaction. See Block 50. The donation unit 12 communicates with the administrative software 24 running on the server(s) 26. The administrative software 24 first checks that the funds are available for donation. See Block 52. For example, if a person is donating ten dollars from a bank account, the administrative software 24 checks if the bank account has a balance of at least ten dollars. The administrative software 24 then checks the donation against the preselected transaction variables 41. See Block 52. The donation cannot exceed the maximum donation rate 46 nor the maximum donation amount 48. If neither the maximum donation rate 46 nor the maximum donation amount 48 are exceeded, then the donation is approved. See Block 54 and Block 56. The donated funds are then transferred to the selected organization. If funds are unavailable or if either the maximum donation rate 46 or the maximum donation amount 48 are exceeded, then the donation is denied. See loop line 58.
The administrative software 24 can generate messages 60 regarding donations made and/or donations denied. These administrative messages 60 can be sent to the donor via email, text and/or automated phone call. In this manner, a donor can be informed that a donation request has been received and processed. Likewise, a donor can access account information 38 using a computer, smartphone, or similar device to obtain account information 38 for administrative and tax purposes.
In the embodiment of
Referring to
The donation unit 72 contains a card reader 76 that can receive and read the information from a credit card or bank card. Once the card information is read, the donation unit 72 will automatically withdraw a donation from the related account and forwarded the same to the selected organization, each time the donation unit is activated.
It will be understood that the embodiments of the present invention that are illustrated and described are merely exemplary and that a person skilled in the art can make many variations to those embodiments. All such embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.
