Friday, September 7, 2007

What is a Donation Badge?



A Donation Badge allows you to raise awareness and money for a charity, cause or house of worship. You can place it on your Beliefnet page and friends can donate easily, and you can keep track of how much you've raised.

Here are the steps to get started:

1. SIGN UP: Register at Network for Good's website by filling in the information in the 'Register To Build a Badge' section. The purpose for creating a password is so that you can come back to our site if you would like to edit your badge. If you already have a Network for Good account, you just have to log in.

2. DESIGN IT:

-Choose a badge type; the default should be "Beliefnet", but if that is not displayed please choose this from the list.

-Why my cause is important to me
This is so you can tell your story; tell friends and family why you are passionate about a cause, your place of worship or a charity you happen to like.

-I have an image for my Donation Badge
This is if you want to add a picture or graphic to your badge. Click 'Browse' to find the picture you want that is on your computer. Once you locate it, click upload.

-I have a video for my Donation Badge
If you would like people to watch a video to inspire your friends about your cause, you need to have the video hosted elsewhere.

When you are finished, click 'Continue'.

3. CHOOSE YOUR CAUSE: This is where you search and choose the charity you would like your friends and family to support. When you are finished, click 'Continue'.

NOTE: The GuideStar database has over one million charities in its database. If you can not find your place of worship after searching using its exact name, you can contact them directly about getting added to the database.


a) If your nonprofit is a recognized 501(c)(3) organization as designated by the IRS, you can simply forward a copy of your Letter of Determination to GuideStar by fax at 757.229.8912 or mail to GuideStar, 4801 Courthouse Street, Suite 220, Williamsburg, VA 23188. Your organization should be added to the database within 3-5 days.

b) Religious organizations can be included in the database if the organization has its own IRS-issued employee identification number (EIN) and (b) a copy of the organization’s listing in a religious directory is provided (i.e., Kenedy Directory, Lutheran Directory, state letter for churches). The page listing from the directory can be faxed or mailed to GuideStar.

4. PREVIEW IT. Here you can view the Donation Badge you gave created so far. If you would like to change the details of your badge you can go back and make those changes. Make sure you check the 'I agree with the terms & conditions of using a Donation Badge.' box.


5. SHARE IT This page provides you the code you need to copy and paste to display your Donation Badge on Beliefnet or anywhere else online. If you are planning to post your badge online, copy and paste the Donation Badge website code. If you don't have a website or blog you can send the link to friends and family to display the badge.

No comments: