Inlieuofagift.com sends out electronic invitations with a "Donate Now" button attached to the charity of the party host's choice. Your guests receive an electronic invitaion with all of the party's information as well as, a line stating "ABC Charity" has been chosen in lieu of a gift. The guest may then use the "Donate Now" button to make a donation. If they've donated their name is published on the party's list of donors.They also RSVP to the party and may leave comments.
In order to use Inlieuofagift.com, the first thing you do is register. After registering you choose a template that suits your party. Look through the list on the right because not all of our templates are pictured. The children's templates will only send the "Donate Now" button to one guest (see below for more details on childrens' parties). After you choose a template you hit "confirm" at the bottom of the page. You will then fill in all of the details for the party. Feel free to use the "Comments" field to customize your party. You then choose a charity. If you do not see your favorite charity, contact us via info@inlieuof.com, we can add it. You then confirm your choice of charity. It is free, no matter how many invitations you send out. Some people have used the "Blank Card" to solicit donations (as a fund raiser) even though there is no actual party (you're just being invited to give). The "Comments" field can be used to clarify your goals. Feel free to get creative! The goal is to make charitable-giving fast, fun and easy!
Inlieuofagift.com is actually powered by three separately owned and operated companies working together. Inlieuofagift.com offers electronic invitations or a gift card with a donation attached. Guidestar.com is the company that hosts all of the data for the charities and Justgive.com is the 501 (C) (3) non-profit which pays the charities and issues the tax receipt/thank you letter. Both Guidestar.com and Justgive.com are completely independent of Inlieuofagift.com.
When you send out a party invitation, you choose a charity and your guests make donations. We currently have 5,000 charities of the over one million charities listed in the USA. Both Inlieuofagift.com and Justgive.com pay Guidestar for the data associated with those charities. Justgive.com receives your payment and turns it around to the charity as quickly as possible depending on the charity’s capabilities in terms of being able to receive electronic payments or checks by mail. If we simply provided a link to the charity we wouldn’t be able to provide the tax receipt, tracking number, list of donors or the amount raised for your charity. In other words there would be no accountability at all.
So you choose the charity and when your guests make a donation they are passed quickly to Justgive.com and then back to Inlieuofagift.com similar to the way you go back and forth when you use Paypal to make a payment. A list of donors is published on the party’s site but only the total amount raised is listed at the top to protect individual’s privacy. A more detailed accounting is available to the host if s/he chooses.
Justgive must pay 3% to credit card companies. The donation is 100% tax-deductible. Inlieuofagift.com never handles the donation whatsoever. For tax documentation purposes, the charity listed on the receipt is JustGive. Justgive is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization designed to route donations to all charities and track donations made on behalf of specific individuals. JustGive's tax identification number is 94-3331010. Justgive has a proven record of efficiency, accuracy and dedication and works with some of the most prestigious companies in America such as American Express, Microsoft and Hallmark. Without Justgive only the bigger, more technologically advanced charities would be able to participate in on-line giving.
It is our mission to get more money to more charities. One of the best ways we can serve charities is to help them gain access to you. It is our hope that party invitations with a donation opportunity attached represent a fun, easy and convenient way for you to show how much you care about the world we live in!
Children’s parties are different
(patent pending)
Children’s parties are a little bit different than adult parties because ONLY ONE GUEST is going to make a donation. The web site randomly selects one addressee to receive an invitation with the “donate now” feature attached. The guest who receives the special invitation makes a donation and then receives a printable certificate describing the donation (without financial details). The guest wraps the certificate as if it were a regular gift. At the party, opening presents becomes “FIND THE PHILANTHROPIST”. When the party host finds the certificate s/he then tells the guests a little about the charity and why s/he chose it. If your child would like everyone to make a donation, please use our "Blank Card" template.
In this way, we hope to help raise a generation of children who give back!!
