[ANN] Bit-pay Merchant Solutions for Charities & Non-Profits

[BitPay Business Solutions]

Thanks to MemoryDealers for this great idea!

ANY charity can now accept bitcoin donations quickly, and easily!  Here's how

https://bit-pay.com/forCharities.html

1. The donor receives a receipt for their tax purposes, which shows the bitcoins paid and the value of the donation.

2. The charity receives USD into their bank account, along with an itemized report of all donations.

3. A unique bitcoin address is created for each transaction, verifiable in the block chain.

But wait, how are bitcoins tax deductible?  Huh?

The reality is that anything with value can be tax deductible.  Bitcoins are actually much easier to establish a value for than furniture, clothing, food, blankets, and all the other items that charities accept every day.  Bitcoins have a specific value in Dollars, Euros, Pounds, etc, which is created by the exchanges.

Any charity that accepts credit card donations pays a processing fee to the credit card companies.  For example, using a "rewards" type card to make a $10 charitable donation, the organization pays 10 cents plus 3.5%.  In other words, for a $10 donation paid with a credit card, the charity only receives $9.55.

Bitcoins can reduce the processing fees tremendously!

And here's the bonus, only from Bit-pay.

If the charity is registered with the IRS Publication 78, Bit-pay will process the payments at NO CHARGE.

http://www.irs.gov/app/pub-78/

You must be on the IRS Pub78 list as eligible to receive tax-deductible donations to qualify for the no-charge processing.

So spread the word!  Tell every charity you know that they need to accept bitcoins!  It can't possibly be any easier or cheaper than this!!

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[d'aniel]

Great!  Do charities have the option of automatically converting their bitcoin donations into USD with this?  If so, then perhaps this could alleviate the EFF's concerns about accepting bitcoin donations?

[BitPay Business Solutions]

Great!  Do charities have the option of automatically converting their bitcoin donations into USD with this?  If so, then perhaps this could alleviate the EFF's concerns about accepting bitcoin donations?

Yes, we will convert the bitcoins to dollars for them immediately, and send them the funds every business day by ACH.

[d'aniel]

Great!  Do charities have the option of automatically converting their bitcoin donations into USD with this?  If so, then perhaps this could alleviate the EFF's concerns about accepting bitcoin donations?

Yes, we will convert the bitcoins to dollars for them immediately, and send them the funds every business day by ACH.

Would the EFF technically be the owner of the bitcoins for the short time prior to their sale on the exchanges?  Is there any way it could be done so that the donor maintains ownership until after conversion into USD?  Or would this require the donor to have an account with bit-pay?  It would be great if charities could remove themselves from all risk due to legal uncertainty surrounding bitcoins.

[BitPay Business Solutions]

Would the EFF technically be the owner of the bitcoins for the short time prior to their sale on the exchanges?  Is there any way it could be done so that the donor maintains ownership until after conversion into USD?  Or would this require the donor to have an account with bit-pay?  It would be great if charities could remove themselves from all risk due to legal uncertainty surrounding bitcoins.

With the way our system is setup, that may not be necessary.  The bitcoins are held by bit-pay (payment processor) then turned over as US Dollars to the Charity.

It works exactly the same way if a charitable donation is made with a Visa card.  Visa (payment processor) has the funds for a very short period of time, then they are sent to the Charity.

With our system, the charity receives the donation into their bank account as US Dollars.  It's much easier to place a value and sell bitcoins than it is to sell some furniture, for example, that people donate to charities all the time.

[d'aniel]

Would the EFF technically be the owner of the bitcoins for the short time prior to their sale on the exchanges?  Is there any way it could be done so that the donor maintains ownership until after conversion into USD?  Or would this require the donor to have an account with bit-pay?  It would be great if charities could remove themselves from all risk due to legal uncertainty surrounding bitcoins.

With the way our system is setup, that may not be necessary.  The bitcoins are held by bit-pay (payment processor) then turned over as US Dollars to the Charity.

It works exactly the same way if a charitable donation is made with a Visa card.  Visa (payment processor) has the funds for a very short period of time, then they are sent to the Charity.

With our system, the charity receives the donation into their bank account as US Dollars.  It's much easier to place a value and sell bitcoins than it is to sell some furniture, for example, that people donate to charities all the time.

Okay, so I assume that because it's not a problem with donations via Visa, that although bit-pay is technically the recipient of the donation, it is still tax deductible?

[amincd]

Great job!

Just a thought: bitcoinsforcharity.org had an option before where people could contribute computer hashes to charity. The browser-based miner they used, Krad miner, has since gone off-line, but there is another Webcl-based miner run by http://www.coined.com online. Perhaps you could add an option to let people mine bitcoins for charity via their browser..

[BitPay Business Solutions]

Okay, so I assume that because it's not a problem with donations via Visa, that although bit-pay is technically the recipient of the donation, it is still tax deductible?

Correct.  The receipt has the name of the charity and the name of the donor.  That is what the donor needs for their taxes.  The process works exactly the same as making a charitable donation with Visa, or Paypal.

[BitPay Business Solutions]

Great job!

Just a thought: bitcoinsforcharity.org had an option before where people could contribute computer hashes to charity. The browser-based miner they used, Krad miner, has since gone off-line, but there is another Webcl-based miner run by http://www.coined.com online. Perhaps you could add an option to let people mine bitcoins for charity via their browser..

the browser-based CPU mining is no longer efficient.  But anyone mining coins, however they mine, can donate those bitcoins to the charity of their choice.  The charity must get setup with bit-pay. If the charity does not, send them this link and tell them they need to accept bitcoin donations!

https://bit-pay.com/forCharities.html

[amincd]

This is actually not a CPU-miner, it's a GPU-miner, and it's almost as efficient as a client-based miner.

The charity must get setup with bit-pay. If the charity does not, send them this link and tell them they need to accept bitcoin donations!

https://bit-pay.com/forCharities.html

Noted.

[evoorhees]

Awesome!

When the charity signs up, I notice they go to the default "merchant" sign up page. Is there a step where they indicate whether they're a charity?

[BitPay Business Solutions]

Awesome!

When the charity signs up, I notice they go to the default "merchant" sign up page. Is there a step where they indicate whether they're a charity?

Their status as a Charity will be indicated by their EIN.  If they are not registered with the IRS as a charity, then we would treat them like a traditional merchant.

[evoorhees]

Awesome!

When the charity signs up, I notice they go to the default "merchant" sign up page. Is there a step where they indicate whether they're a charity?

Their status as a Charity will be indicated by their EIN.  If they are not registered with the IRS as a charity, then we would treat them like a traditional merchant.

Okay - make sure that's placed out front during the sign up process so charities understand. Otherwise, they'll think they're accidentally signing up as a "merchant" because all the wording is currently geared toward that.

[BitPay Business Solutions]

Okay - make sure that's placed out front during the sign up process so charities understand. Otherwise, they'll think they're accidentally signing up as a "merchant" because all the wording is currently geared toward that.

We can do that.  But Visa & Mastercard refer to Charities as Merchants.  It's a generally accepted term for anyone who takes payments, whether you are a corporation or a non-profit.

 

[wolftaur]

Great concept! I actually know the operator of a small charity in my area... I'm going to have to point him your way and see what he thinks!

[Elder]

Wow, great work. This is amazing. Pretty much takes out all the negatives that could possibly come with donating via bitcoin (too much work for the charities, possibly not accepting, reduced value of the donation) and transforms bitcoin into the absolute smartest way to receive donations. I could really see this catching on and improving the image of the "BTCommunity" greatly. Thank you!

EDIT: Should we keep track of which charities have been asked to add bitcoin to their accepted donations? It wouldn't be good if everyone got the bystander effect and said someone else will do it or if everyone spammed the foundation at the same time.

[BitPay Business Solutions]

EDIT: Should we keep track of which charities have been asked to add bitcoin to their accepted donations? It wouldn't be good if everyone got the bystander effect and said someone else will do it or if everyone spammed the foundation at the same time.

Excellent idea.  There should be a section created in the Wiki for Charities.

More than 1 person asking the same charity is ok, because it gives them a better sense of demand.  Don't spam, just contact charities you already know. 

Tell them you want to make another donation but you only want to use bitcoins!   That will get their attention.

and yes, when you look at all the factors, we think it's a no-brainer for charities to accept bitcoins. 

[Stephen Gornick]

ANY charity can now accept bitcoin donations quickly, and easily!  

I know political parties aren't charities but there are some similarities.

A previous thread had described how Bitcoins couldn't be used in the U.S. for donations to a political party because anonymous donations (over $50 USD) aren't allowed due to federal regulations.  Corporations are a "restricted" class and they are prohibited from making donations directly to candidates thus with anonymous donations there is no way to know the funds weren't a corporate donation.

http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5280.msg77304#msg77304

Each state makes their own rules for state and local elections so there could be some areas where anonymous donations are allowed:
 - http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/60594.html

I wonder if there would be some method though where bitcoins could be accepted through Bit-Pay and then donated in whatever manner is allowed.

[defxor]

You must be on the IRS Pub78 list as eligible to receive tax-deductible donations to qualify for the no-charge processing.

So spread the word!

What do you need for, or what are your existing plans, to expand outside of the US?

[BitPay Business Solutions]

What do you need for, or what are your existing plans, to expand outside of the US?

It's definitely on our plan.  To do it right, we need a legal company and a bank account in every country we want to do business in.  So that will take some time.

However, for transactions under $ 1000, and if the merchant is ok with taking the bitcoins straight-up, we can help them today!