FAQ
Q. What is 518 Day of Giving?
518 Day of Giving is an online, regional day of giving, on May 18. The event provides nonprofit organizations with the opportunity to gain exposure to – and start relationships with – new donors and encourage philanthropic giving on one single day.
518 Day of Giving is an initiative of United Way of the Greater Capital Region and is designed to deepen the region’s culture of philanthropy.
Q. When is 518 Day of Giving?
518 Day of Giving will take place on May 18, 2024, from midnight to 11:59pm EST.
Q. Which organizations can participate?
Organizations must have a current 501(c)(3) status and provide direct services in United Way of the Greater Capital Region’s eight-county footprint, including Albany, Columbia, Greene, Montgomery, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, or Rensselaer counties, or within the 518 area code.
Q. How are nonprofit organizations vetted?
Bonterra is an online platform that collects, processes, and distributes money in donations from supporters to organizations. Nonprofit organizations fall under certain regulations and are required to abide by the compliance laws that are part of the Patriot Act.
Bonterra verifies that the individual who is signing up a nonprofit organization to collect donations, is who they say they are and is authorized to do so. Additionally, Bonterra verifies that the nonprofit organization is a legitimately registered corporation. Collecting this information helps streamline donation processing and payouts with the payment processor (Stripe) and the financial institutions that they work with. More importantly, Bonterra has a duty to its users that when they choose to support a cause with a monetary gift, that money is going where they expect it to go! You can read a full explanation HERE, including how this information is stored.
Q. When does nonprofit registration close for 518 Day of Giving?
Nonprofit registration closes on April 15, 2024.
Q. Who can donate?
Anyone with a credit card and access to the internet can make a donation on 518 Day of Giving.
Q. What is a ‘unique donor?’
For awarding prizes, a unique donor is one individual or corporation/business. Multiple donations from one donor to the same nonprofit will count as one donor. Organizations cannot donate to themselves.
Q. What forms of donations are accepted on 518 Day of Giving?
MasterCard, Visa, Discover, American Express and ACH direct deposit donations received through the website on 518 Day of Giving will be accepted. No donations via check, cash or stock will be accepted.
Q. Are donations tax-deductible?
Donations through the 518 Day of Giving portal are tax-deductible. When a donation is received through the website, a receipt is automatically generated to the donor for the gross amount of the gift and emailed to the address provided.
Q. Will donors receive a receipt for tax purposes?
Yes. Donors will automatically receive an emailed receipt acknowledging their gift to a designated charity.
Q. Is there a minimum gift?
There is a $5 minimum donation.
Q. Can my donors make a gift with cash or check?
Absolutely! Please have your donors coordinate any cash or check donations with your nonprofit organization directly. You can account for your gift on your dashboard as an Offline Gift, and their donation will be added to your total. Please note that offline gifts, however, will not be eligible for prizes or matches during 518 Day of Giving.
Q. Can donors designate how a nonprofit can use their gift?
All donations made during 518 Day of Giving are considered unrestricted gifts to the nonprofit. However, donors may express their desire for the gift to be used for a specific program or project (in the notes field of the giving form).
Q. What if my preferred organization is not listed?
Please send an email to 518Day@unitedwaygcr.org to request that we contact your organization of choice.
Q. Can donors pay existing pledges with their gift?
518 Day of Giving is designed to generate new support. Thus, we are unable to accept gifts to pay off existing pledges.
Q. May I use my donation to buy event tickets?
No, donations may not be used to pay for anything that might be perceived as a material benefit to the donor, advisor or other disqualified person - including dinner tickets, membership fees, golf fees, admission tickets or other gifts.
Q. What is GiveGab (Bonterra)?
GiveGab, which is becoming Bonterra, is the nonprofit giving platform behind 518 Day of Giving. GiveGab helps nonprofits raise money and engage donors quickly and efficiently. GiveGab offers a full portfolio of simple and easy to use products that allow organizations to function in a more streamlined manner.
Q. Do donors need to create an account with GiveGab (Bonterra)?
No. Donors do not need to create an account to make a donation on 518 Day of Giving. The benefits of creating an account include having tax receipts collected in one location, tracking donations, following the charities they support, and engaging in future 518 Day of Giving events.
Q. Is donor information secure with GiveGab (Bonterra)?
GiveGab takes the highest security measures to ensure that all donor information is protected. GiveGab partners with Stripe to process payments and underwrite the nonprofit verification process. Stripe is a PCI Service Provider Level 1, the most stringent level of certification.
GiveGab also requires HTTPs to have a secure connection when using GiveGab to donate. Donor privacy and security are taken very seriously.
Q. Who will receive a donor’s contact information?
The organization(s) the donor chooses to support will have access to their name and email address. This information is used solely to send thank you messages, provide the option to receive future notifications, and to notify you of future activities.
Donors can wish to remain anonymous. Anonymous donations will be displayed as “Anonymous” on the nonprofit's 518 Day of Giving page. The nonprofit will receive their name and email address but will be notified that the donors has chosen to remain anonymous.
Each nonprofit has their own dashboard to review and download their donor information. Donor information will not be used by GiveGab or United Way of the Greater Capital Region.
Q. How will donations be distributed?
Each donation made to a participating nonprofit on 518 Day of Giving will be disbursed directly from GiveGab via direct deposit within 5-7 business days.
Q. How much of the donation will go to the nonprofit?
GiveGab retains a 3.5% platform fee from all donations.
Credit card processing fees are an additional 2.5% + $0.30 for Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover.
ACH processing fees are an additional $3.00. The flat fee ensures larger donors are not charged excessively and incentivizes online giving.
Donors can opt to cover the fees so 100% of the donation will go to the receiving nonprofit. Any fees a donor covers will increase their total tax-deductible donation.
All donations are final and cannot be refunded.
Q. When I check the box on my organization account to declare state charitable solicitation registration compliance, what am I attesting to?
When you check the box you are attesting that your organization is compliant with applicable state fundraising requirements in the states in which you may solicit donors using the GiveGab/Bonterra platform.