Frequently Asked Questions
GiveRound helps Small and Medium-sized businesses streamline and simplify their giving by offering a QR code and related profile on our site so that nonprofit Seekers can focus on businesses that are interested in their causes. This leads to businesses having fewer, better requests and much more valuable market reach through their giving. It also enables Seekers to filter through our business directory to find matches that are passionate about their work, simplifying and streamlining their efforts too, leading to much better, faster outcomes.
Small and Medium-sized businesses of all shapes and sizes, from high-traffic retail storefronts to second-floor businesses, from consumer goods to service-based businesses, online businesses, professionals like doctors and lawyers, and mobile businesses, such as handyman services and housecleaners. Anyone with a business can benefit from a presence on GiveRound.
Nonprofits, charities, and even for-profit businesses (Seekers) with a community donation or sponsorship goal can all use GiveRound for things like auction items, in-kind capital goals, and even cash gifts. And because of our matching system, the work of Seekers can be short and sweet – simply search for Businesses that are interested in your cause area, and ask them for support!
Businesses can minimize the time they need to spend talking about or reviewing requests from nonprofits for donations for their many fundraisers. They can make a simple strategy to support things that they care about most, and then get requests that align with their interests. And they may never need to say “no” again, as the requests they receive will align so well with their priorities. Finally, because businesses are able to clearly define their areas of giving interest, they have the opportunity to give in areas that may also build their presence in target markets. For example, a bike shop that sponsors prizes for a community bike safety program will become better known to people with bikes and may gain business as a result.
Businesses that rarely or never get asked for things will have a different opportunity – to be more visible! When nonprofits look for businesses to support their causes using GiveRound, they will discover businesses that are not on their main street and may be mobile, online, home-based, or in categories they would never consider (doctors, lawyers, engineers, for example). These businesses will have the chance to make a difference in their communities without having to work hard to gain visibility.
GiveRound only serves small and medium-sized businesses. It does not offer services to large corporations so you won’t find your local branch of a national bank or international company on our website.
We only serve small and medium-sized businesses. This means you will not see profiles for large corporations, nor are individuals who are crowdfunding for personal campaigns permitted to use GiveRound. We also don’t create profiles of charities. There are other sites that offer services to all of these demographics really well already.
GiveRound has a low monthly fee for businesses and a discount when a business pays for a year upfront. It is always free for nonprofits and we also never take a percentage of any gift made through our system.
We are a Canadian company, located in British Columbia.
GiveRound is available to small businesses from Canada and the US for the moment. We look forward to offering our services in other places soon.
GiveRound is intended to broker relationships for both cash and inkind contributions from small and medium-sized businesses to organizations that serve to improve communities in a multitude of ways. In this, we know that contributions from businesses will vary widely. That said, there are limitations. Businesses are not permitted to advertise inkind goods or services that are illegal or unethical, or cash donations or sponsorships to support illegal or unethical programs, services, or activities on the parts of Seekers. Any parties promoting or participating in relationships pertaining to illegal or unethical activities, purchases, trades, or promotions of any kind will no longer be permitted to use our site. Furthermore, any illegal actions or insinuations of illegal activities will be reported to the appropriate authorities.
GiveRound’s role is to help small and medium-sized businesses focus the visibility of their corporate giving programs, no matter what size, but it is the responsibility of each business to decide if a request they receive is worth supporting. We very strongly recommend that before you give to any Seeker, you learn about them and judge their veracity for yourself. GiveRound is not responsible in any way for decisions that businesses make to support charities, nonprofits or other Seekers.
There are things you can do to safeguard against the possibility of scams. Here are a few tips to help you get started:
- Give to entities that you know or that have a presence in your community already. This is a great way to ensure that your support is going to a worthwhile cause.
- Look at the websites and social media accounts of Seekers who contact you so you can learn about what they do and how your support will help them with their goals. Their websites may also have lists of other donors and sponsors who can likely be a reference for them.
- Look for Seekers’ presence on other websites too – charities around the world are featured in catalogues that help donors decide on giving.
Contact Us. We will investigate and remove access to our site if we find that a Business or Seeker has acted inappropriately.
We offer full refunds if requested within 24 hours of purchase.
It may be that your giving parameters are too narrow. We recommend thinking about what the needs in your community are and how they intersect with your business interests, and consider ways to broaden your areas of interest. You may also want to edit your Giving Rules to give a little more flexibility.
Your giving parameters may be too broad, especially if you are a very visible or high-traffic business. Consider what you are really interested in supporting and how that giving reflects values that are important to you or business goals, and distill your Giving Interests a bit more. You may also want to revise your giving rules further – narrowing your scope should have the effect of also reducing the number of requests you receive.
Finally, if you feel that there is something really disingenuous about a request you’ve received, or you are being spammed by a Seeker, please let us know through Contact Us.