As the world enters 2025, one thing is certain – we are in for some dramatic change when it comes to charitable giving. With governments, businesses and donors taking a closer look at tighter finances and more competition for support, digital tools and technology have never been more relevant or important factors in the future of generosity in this country. The world of charity has been analog for a long time, but digitization just might be the thing to uplift it into a new era of impact.
Why is generosity important anyway? Not only is an anchoring virtue in our culture, but it has practical implications too. Charity touches all corners of our lives; it helps fill in the gaps of our social safety net, and ultimately helps to contribute to the quality of life we enjoy. Whether it relates to education, healthcare, social services, the arts, the environment, or animal welfare, without the generosity of our community, our lives would be poorer (and likely less fulfilling too.)
In the past 50 years in America, giving back has tended to remain hyper-local, and non-profits have relied on mass media like television, radio, and the mail system, and fundraising events, or in face-to-face relationship building to attract support. The challenge is that as time goes on, older donors used to those systems of giving, are being replaced with younger ones, and those younger donors don’t have the same experiences or preferences in giving that their parents and grandparents did.
At the same time, younger generations are very much driving changes and attitudes related to consumerism. Shoppers will go out of their way to support a business that demonstrates their philanthropic support of charity, and employees have shown that how their workplace culture shows generosity is often more important than remuneration.
Businesses are working hard to differentiate too, by showing their customers that they care about what their customers care about, especially if the impact is locally felt. And with online shopping, social media influence, and removing barriers to shop nationally, businesses are recognizing that data that shows customers behavior patterns can reveal opportunities to grow, adjust, and re-calibrate in real time.
That is where the Network of Giving is ready to transform the non-profit charitable sector market: by tapping into customer preferences, business intelligence, and charitable giving under one system.
The Network of Giving is a powerful, hyper-local digital Software as a Service (SaaS) platform. It fosters a community-minded movement of giving by connecting local consumers with participating merchants that care. Local non-profits benefit from merchant-defined and funded contributions when the consumer pays with their existing debit or credit cards. This creates efficiencies and newfound revenue streams in digital fundraising for the non-profit, as well as goodwill and customer loyalty for the merchant.
Through the Network of Giving, local merchants utilize digital commerce and contributions as digital tools to grow their business – with measured results on their marketing spend. It provides a way to create loyalty with consumers on something more sustainable than price: aligned values. The Network of Giving provides consumers with an outlet to direct the contributions in the community where they live and shop – at no added cost to the consumer.
The Network of Giving was envisioned, designed and built with a paramount purpose – Support local communities! By helping communities to simultaneously grow local businesses and positively impact society, the Network of Giving experience inspires purpose-driven action, thereby supporting humankind around the world – one transaction at a time.
The Network of Giving is free to use for consumers, and businesses pay a nominal fee to support the contributions driven by their customers, only after a sale is made. Non-profits benefit by receiving undesignated funding, while activating their current donor database, leveraging their compelling stories of impact and encouraging consumers to shop more at those businesses who care about their cause.
You shop. Businesses Give. Non-profits make a difference. This is the power of the Network of Giving.
