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NO.GIFTS

NO.GIFTS - the ultimate destination for 'gifting' your special days to the causes and charities you love.

$10,825
pledged of$20,000 goal
31
0Days Left

Project Description

NO.GIFTS is an easy and elegant platform to 'gift' the special days in your life to the causes that mean the most to you. You will be able to build personalized donation pages to support your favorite organizations, featuring your own pictures, videos, and answers to why you're going giftless.

NO.GIFTS is the brainchild of Hitha Palepu and Samira Panah, the co-founders of Bridge2Act. When Hitha's son was about to turn one, she was overwhelmed by the generosity of family and friends - and by the lack of space in her apartment. When asked what Rho wanted for his birthday, "no gifts" was her de facto answer.

But people still wanted to give something.

She created a Bridge2Act donation page for her son and shared the link with anyone who asked what they could bring for Rho.

$2,000 was raised for 3 incredible children's organizations.
Hitha's apartment was not overtaken by flashing, plastic toys.
And a business idea was born.

We're looking to raise $50,000 to build a standalone NO.GIFTS platform that lets users fully control and customize their pages, and enables us to give to any charity, with full transparency.

Our goal is to launch the new NO.GIFTS platform in spring 2017.

Updates

The Campaign FAQs

  1. How will the charities get the donation?
    We anticipate a donation page having an end date, at which point all the donations for each charity will be totaled and checks cut directly from the NO.GIFTS charitable fund. Over time, we plan on onboard charities, as we do for Bridge2Act, to transfer the donations in real-time to the charity.
  2. How does NO.GIFTS earn money?
    As we do with Bridge2Act, we will charge the donor a small service fee ($1 + 7.5%) on top of the donation, to cover payment processing and to support the platform. For charities that are already onboarded with Bridge2Act, we will transfer the donation to them in real-time. For charities that have not signed up with Bridge2Act, the donations will go into the NO.GIFTS charitable fund, and checks will be issued to those nonprofits once the campaign ends.
  3. How will you pick the charities?
    We leave it to you to select your favorite charities and organizations. That said, we will have curated options for every major cause group for you to quickly learn about and select from.
  4. How do I know that my donation is getting to the end organization?
    Part of the money we raise is to invest in a strong legal foundation that will also offer transparency into our donation, including publishing the dates that NO.GIFTS donated to the specific nonprofit. We hope that, over time, more charities will register with us directly so we may transfer the donations to them in real-time.
  5. What is a charitable fund?
    Charitable funds, also known as donor advised funds, allow you to make a donation and receive the immediate tax benefit. The fund has the discretion to grant the money.
    Most donor advised funds take large cuts from your donation (11-20%) and only direct them to the nonprofit you selected after a certain threshold has been met. As a part of our legal and technology build, we will be hyper-transparent and ensure 100% of your donation makes it to the nonprofit you selected. We'll cover the payment processing and investment in the platform from the aforementioned service fee.
  6. Why do you need to create a donor advised fund?
    It turns out it's illegal for a for-profit company to fundraise on behalf of a 501(c)(3) without their explicit consent. Creating a donor-advised fund allows us to include every nonprofit in NO.GIFTS - everyone from the United Nations all the way to a brand-new nonprofit started by your best friend.
  7. Why are you raising $50,000?
    Here's a high-level breakdown of the money we're raising:
    1. $30,000 - design and development for the new NO.GIFTS platform
    2. $10,000 - legal work. Lawyers are expensive, and fundraising is a complicated matter.
    3. $10,000 - establishing a NO.GIFTS charitable fund to facilitate donations for ALL nonprofits through our platform.
09/09/2017
Monetary Contribution With No Reward
$10
05/16/2017
#CHANGEMAKER swag bag
$100
02/05/2017
Monetary Contribution With No Reward
$25
12/14/2016
Monetary Contribution With No Reward
$20
11/30/2016
#CHANGEMAKER swag bag
$100
11/23/2016
Monetary Contribution With No Reward
$100
11/14/2016
Exclusive beta access to NO.GIFTS
$50
11/13/2016
Monetary Contribution With No Reward
$20
11/10/2016
Exclusive beta access to NO.GIFTS
$50
11/07/2016
Exclusive beta access to NO.GIFTS
$50
Monetary Contribution With No Reward
21 Supporters
Select this reward
50.00 USD
Exclusive beta access to NO.GIFTS

You'll be the first to #gogiftless, with access to our private beta. We'll incorporate your feedback to prior to the official launch, and give you lots of karma points in the process.

97 Left
3 Supporters
Select this reward
100.00 USD
#CHANGEMAKER swag bag

Show off your generosity with our exclusive #CHANGEMAKER swag bag - including the exclusive eyemask used in the #IDREAMOF campaign. You'll be among a select few to receive these items, which are reserved for the biggest changemakers in the world.

43 Left
7 Supporters
Select this reward
250.00 USD
Pick Our Brain

You get an hour with either Hitha or Samira to ask any question, seek any advice, and brainstorm together. If you live in New York (or happen to be here!), we can meet IRL at one of NYC's best work spaces.

25 Left
0 Supporters
Select this reward
500.00 USD
Ladies-Who-Don't-Lunch Lunch

Meet Samira & Hitha (and some special guests!) for an intimate, fun lunch at one of New York's hidden gems. You share what you want to make a reality, and we'll work together to help you make it happen. Also, wine.

10 Left
0 Supporters
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About the Entrepreneur

New York, NY
Created 1 Campaign
Lifestyle
Tech
Social Good

Rewards

Monetary Contribution With No Reward
21 Supporters
Select this reward
50.00 USD
Exclusive beta access to NO.GIFTS

You'll be the first to #gogiftless, with access to our private beta. We'll incorporate your feedback to prior to the official launch, and give you lots of karma points in the process.

97 Left
3 Supporters
Select this reward
100.00 USD
#CHANGEMAKER swag bag

Show off your generosity with our exclusive #CHANGEMAKER swag bag - including the exclusive eyemask used in the #IDREAMOF campaign. You'll be among a select few to receive these items, which are reserved for the biggest changemakers in the world.

43 Left
7 Supporters
Select this reward
250.00 USD
Pick Our Brain

You get an hour with either Hitha or Samira to ask any question, seek any advice, and brainstorm together. If you live in New York (or happen to be here!), we can meet IRL at one of NYC's best work spaces.

25 Left
0 Supporters
Select this reward
500.00 USD
Ladies-Who-Don't-Lunch Lunch

Meet Samira & Hitha (and some special guests!) for an intimate, fun lunch at one of New York's hidden gems. You share what you want to make a reality, and we'll work together to help you make it happen. Also, wine.

10 Left
0 Supporters
Select this reward