America’s Giving Challenge Help 

Back to TopBasic Info

Why a challenge?

The objective of America’s Giving Challenge (the “Challenge”) is to enable passionate individuals and nonprofit organizations to easily leverage their offline and online social networks to increase awareness about their causes, attract new donors, and encourage people to get and stay involved with causes they care about. By encouraging people to give what they can-no matter how big or small, the Challenge seeks to demonstrate the potential of social networks to bring real people together to make a significant impact.

Participants in the Challenge will compete for daily and overall cash awards of up to $50,000 for the nonprofit organizations they care most about. Awards will be distributed based on the number of qualifying donations generated for a cause, not the total dollars raised.

What is a "unique daily donation"?  

A unique daily donation is defined as one single donation per individual per day in the amount of $10 USD or more. This means that duplicate donations from the same individual to a single cause in one day will only count once toward helping the cause receive an award. However, individuals can donate to the same cause once a day everyday for 30 days and this would count 30 times towards helping the cause receive an Overall Award. This would also count towards the Daily Award for that cause every day.

Why “unique daily donations”? 

The Challenge is not focused on how much money you can raise, but on how successful you are at building collective action and inspiring members to donate to your cause to make a lasting impact. In addition, in order to encourage consistent support of a cause as opposed to making a one-time donation, individuals can donate to the same cause once a day everyday for 30 days and this would count 30 times towards helping the cause receive an Overall Award. This would also count towards the Daily Award for that cause every day. To succeed, the goal is to get as many unique donations to your charity as possible each day.

Who can participate?  

Anyone with the passion and commitment to advocate on behalf of a cause they care about can participate in the Challenge. To enter your cause into the Challenge, you must be a “Cause administrator” (also referred to as Challenge administrator), 13 years of age or older at the time of entry and a legal resident of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia.

How can I participate? 

If you have already created a cause on Facebook, then all you need to do is take these simple steps to opt-in to the Challenge: 

1. You will need to register for the Challenge by agreeing to the Challenge Rules. There are 3 ways to access the registration page: (a) the main landing page for the Challenge (http://www.causes.com/), (b) your individual cause(s), or (c) if you are a Causes user and have enabled email permissions, you will also receive a Challenge kick-off email with a link to the registration page.
1. From the main landing page (http://www.causes.com/), click on the green "Enter the Challenge" button, or 
2. From the main page of any cause that you administer you should see a yellow banner near the top of the application that also displays a green "Enter the Challenge" button. 
2. Complete the registration process by agreeing to the Challenge Rules.

 

If you have not yet created a cause, follow the simple steps to create a cause and opt-in to the Challenge here: http://www.americasgivingchallenge.com  

What charities are eligible to receive awards?  

Only U.S.-based 501(c)(3) charities listed in the Guidestar database (http://guidestar.org) are eligible as potential Challenge awardees.  

There are some minor exceptions for causes that are directly affiliated with presenting sponsors of the Challenge. Any causes running a live matching grant campaign or other similar campaign ("Causes Sponsorship Program") are not eligible for participation in the Challenge. In addition, due to Matt Damon’s participation in supporting the launch of the Challenge in Parade Magazine, any cause with the nonprofit beneficiary of Water.org or ONEXONE is ineligible to participate in the Challenge, although these organizations may still receive donations through the Causes platform during the term of the Challenge. Please see the Challenge Rules for more details.   

How do I get involved if I don’t live in the U.S.? 

If you are not a legal resident of the U.S. but want to support a cause in the Challenge, team up with a friend who is a U.S. resident. While you won’t be able to be the official Challenge cause administrator for your cause, you can still help spread the word about your favorite cause.  Of course, Causes also supports donations from most countries in the world, so if you’re able, please consider supporting your favorite cause by making a donation.  

My cause has multiple cause administrators: is this okay? 

Yes. By agreeing to the Challenge Rules you are agreeing to be the main Challenge cause administrator for your cause. This means that you will be the main point of contact for your cause. When you agree to the Challenge Rules you are also agreeing that you have received permission from the other cause administrators for your cause to enter the Challenge and that they also agree to the Challenge Rules.  

I already have a cause. Do I have to create a new one?  

No. To participate in the Challenge, you do not have to create a new cause. However, you do have to opt-in your existing cause to the Challenge by following these simple steps. You will not be entered into the Challenge or eligible for award money until you have followed these steps to opt-in: 

1. You will need to register for the Challenge by agreeing to the Challenge Rules. There are 3 ways to access this registration page: (a) the main landing page for the Challenge (http://www.causes.com/), (b) your individual cause(s), or (c) if you are a Causes user and have enabled email permissions, you will also receive a Challenge kick-off email with a link to the registration page.
1. From the main landing page (http://www.causes.com/), click on the green "Enter the Challenge" button, or 
2. From the main page of any cause that you administer you should see a yellow banner near the top of the application that also displays a green "Enter the Challenge" button. 
2. Complete the registration process by agreeing to the Challenge Rules.

  

What are the deadlines for participating in the Challenge?  

The Challenge begins at 3:00 p.m. EDT on October 7, 2009, and ends at 2:59 p.m. EST on November 6, 2009.  

Can there be more than one cause in the Challenge that designates my charity as the beneficiary?  

Yes. A charity can be the beneficiary of an unlimited amount of causes, and users can create an unlimited amount of causes. However, the Challenge is focused on individual causes, not the nonprofit beneficiaries, so awards will be based on how many unique daily donations a cause receives, not the nonprofit beneficiary. 

Will my cause go away after the Challenge?  

No. The cause can continue to serve as a user-driven advocacy group and we encourage participants to maintain an active cause community long after the Challenge is over. 

Can I change the charity my Challenge cause benefits in the middle of the Challenge?  

No. The nonprofit beneficiary designated by each cause at the time of entry into the Challenge may not be changed during the Challenge.

Back to TopDonating, Fundraising & Recruiting

Do I have to join Facebook or Causes to start a cause?

Yes. You must be a member of Facebook and have added the Causes application to start a cause. 

Do I have to join Facebook or Causes to donate? 

No. While joining Facebook and Causes will give you access to many tools that could help you spread the word about the nonprofit you are supporting, it is not necessary to join in order to make a donation. 

Do I have to donate to join or start a Challenge cause?  

No. You can start a cause or join and recruit interested friends without donating. Remember, however, that awards to causes will not be determined by the number of people in the cause, but by the number of people who actually donate to the cause.  

What is the minimum donation?  

The minimum donation accepted for your donation to count towards the Challenge is $10.00 USD. 

I saw that Causes recently upgraded their Nonprofit Partner Center. How will these new tools impact how my cause participates in the Challenge? 

The upgraded Nonprofit Partner Center helps nonprofits manage their presence on Causes. Since nonprofits often have more than one cause supporting them, Causes built the Partner Center to help them communicate and work directly with any number of "affiliate" causes.    Cause administrators can choose whether or not to affiliate with a nonprofit (affiliation is not required for participation in the Challenge).  Affiliating your cause with a nonprofit allows the nonprofit to provide you with information, resources, news about campaigns and other compelling content that you can share with your cause members.  It also allows the nonprofit to communicate directly with you and your members.  Closer collaboration with your nonprofit is one more resource for mobilizing your cause around the Challenge. To request to become an affiliate cause of a nonprofit, go to the Admin Center of your cause and click on the Beneficiary tab.    Nonprofits can likewise invite causes to become affiliates and accept or reject pending affiliate requests.  Nonprofit employees should visit for detailed information about the Partner Center.  

Is there a limit on the number of people I can invite in one day?  

Yes. You can invite up to 150 people a day to join or donate to the cause you are supporting.  

Is there another way I can tell my friends about the cause?  

Yes, there are other ways to spread the word about your cause. You can use the "Share" button to promote the cause through Facebook, or e-mail the link of your cause page to your friends and family. You can make flyers with the link to your cause, put that link in your email signature, post it on blogs and websites, share it through Twitter, knock on doors with a computer in your hand, or fly a plane with a banner that tells people about the cause! Get creative and think big. Feel free to check out the official Challenge Survival Guide we’ve created to help individuals and nonprofits participating in the Challenge. You can also check out the Nonprofit Resources page on the Case Foundation website for more materials.

If someone donates to my non-Challenge cause, is there any way I can count it towards the Challenge?  

Unfortunately, no. Only contributions made to causes participating in the Challenge will be credited toward progress in the Challenge.  

Remember, if you already have a cause, you must OPT this cause into the Challenge in order for donations to be credited towards your causes progress in the Challenge. 

How do I know if a Cause is part of the Challenge? 

For the duration of the Challenge, all participating causes will be clearly marked as part of the Challenge so be sure to make sure your cause has already entered! 

Does the purchase of charity gifts or birthday wishes count as unique donations to the Challenge?

Yes.  

How are donations processed?

Please see our help page for our full donation policy.

Donations are processed by our nonprofit partner, Network for Good, an industry leader in processing online donations.  Donations can be made using Visa, MasterCard, and American Express. Donations are sent to the nonprofit organization on the 15th of each month and will include all donations made in the previous month. Network for Good’s 4.75% fee is used to pay banks, credit card companies, and other associated costs of donating through Causes. 

How do I know that my donation is secure?  

Donation security is provided by Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), a recognized authentication and encryption software. In other words, the site becomes locked while you are giving us your credit card information and unlocks only when you leave the secured area, and your credit card number is "encrypted" so it is unreadable to anyone outside the transaction process.  

Furthermore, Network for Good, who processes the US credit card donations, is a Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance accredited charity that meets all of the BBB standards for charity accountability (BBB). They have processed more than $250 million in donations for 45,000 charities through their giving system. 

If I make a donation, will the organization be able to contact me or add me to their mailing list?  

We value your privacy, so your personal information is never sold or given away to anyone, including the nonprofits you donate to. You can choose to give your contact information to the nonprofit if you would like by checking the box that says “Share my name, billing address, and donation amount” on the donation page.  For more information please refer to the Causes Privacy Policy. 

If you have a Facebook account and donate to a cause, that Cause Administrator will be able to see that you made a donation and may thank you by writing a message on your Care Wall. In addition, if you make a donation, you will receive a thank-you letter and tax deductible receipt from Network for Good. 

What steps are being taken to prevent fraudulent fundraising?

Only those charities listed in the Guidestar database are eligible for consideration in the Challenge. All eligible U.S. charities therein are registered with the IRS.

At the conclusion of the Challenge, Causes will be checking all donation records to ensure that there is no violation of the Challenge Rules. Violation of the Challenge Rules will revoke your eligibility.

When I make a donation, I am being asked to “tip”  Causes, what does this mean?

Causes is a small team of activists dedicated to changing the world by making it easier for people to raise money and organize for change online. Even though the service is expensive to build and operate, Causes makes it available for free to everyone.  By tipping Causes, you are helping Causes and its nonprofit donations processor, Network for Good, keep the platform running and free to use.

Can I receive more than one Daily Award, and will I still be eligible for the Overall Awards?  

Yes. If you are the cause with the highest number of unique donations in more than one 24-hour period, and you have at least ten donors each time, then you can receive more than one Daily Award. Additionally, your cause is still eligible to receive a $50,000, $25,000 or $10,000 award at the end of the Challenge.  

When will the awards be announced?  

The Challenge ends at 2:59 p.m. EST on November 6, 2009. All award recipients will be notified within approximately thirty days or more after the end of the Challenge.  

When will the awards be distributed?  

The awards will be distributed through Network for Good after the official review process.   Payment will be sent through Network for Good directly to the organization after the award recipients have been announced.

Back to TopAfter the Challenge

Why is the leaderboard not final? If I am on the leaderboard, does it mean that I am an award recipient?

The rankings on the Challenge leaderboard are unofficial and they may not accurately reflect the final standings as determined pursuant to the Challenge Rules. We will determine the official rankings after review and vetting donations and partipation in the Challenge.

When will the Giving Challenge award recipients be announced?

The Challenge will conclude at 3:00 PM EST on November 6, 2009, after which time Causes and the donation processing partner, Network for Good, will begin to review the results based on unique daily donations in accordance with the Challenge Rules. At the conclusion of this review period, the names of the official award winners of the Challenge will be posted on www.americasgivingchallenge.com. We expect to announce these official results on or about November 20, 2009.

How will the Challenge administrators of the award recipients be notified?

Causes, one of the Challenge sponsors, will contact by e-mail the Challenge administrators of the causes which have been determined as the official award winners of the Challenge.

When will the Challenge administrators be notified?

Both the Challenge administrators of leading causes and the charities for which they have raised funds will be notified of their standing about 24 hours prior to the public announcement of the official Challenge results, which is expected to occur on or about November 20, 2009. The final Challenge award recipients will be announced online at www.americasgivingchallenge.com.

If my cause is one of the winning/leading causes on the official leaderboard, does that mean that my cause and my charity have won?

Not just yet. We still need to confirm your eligibility to win in accordance with the terms of the Challenge Rules and we will be in touch as described above with the next steps.

Who will be receiving the Overall Challenge awards?

Pursuant to the Challenge Rules and upon verification by Causes and our donation processing partner, Network for Good, the Overall awards will be distributed to the nonprofit designee of the winning causes as outlined below:

Overall Awards (12 total)

• $50,000 to the cause with the highest total number of unique daily donations over the 30 days of the Challenge
• $25,000 to the next two causes with the highest total number of unique daily donations over the 30 days of the Challenge
• $10,000 to the next nine causes with the highest total number of unique daily donations over the 30 days of the Challenge.

Who will be receiving the Daily awards?

Pursuant to the Challenge Rules and upon verification by Causes and our donation processing partner, Network for Good, the Daily awards will be distributed to the nonprofit designee of the winning causes as outlined below:

For the period from 3:00 p.m. EDT on October 7, 2009, until 2:59 p.m. EST on October 30, 2009:

• $1,000 each day of the Challenge to the cause with the most unique donations that day
• $500 each day of the Challenge to the next cause with the most unique donations that day

For the period from 3:00:00 p.m. EDT on October 30, 2009, until 2:59 PM EST on November 6, 2009:

• $1,500 each day of the Challenge to the cause with the most unique donations that day
• $1,000 each day of the Challenge to the next cause with the most unique donations that day
• $500 each day of the Challenge to the next cause with the most unique donations that day

When will the charities receive their awards?

All Daily and Overall awards are expected to be delivered via Network for Good to the nonprofit designee of the winning causes within approximately 60 days after the public announcement of the winning causes.

Will my cause go away after the Challenge?

No. The cause can continue to serve as a user-driven advocacy group and we encourage participants to maintain an active cause community long after the Challenge is over.

How many people participated in the Challenge? How much money was raised?

We expect to be able to share more information about participation in the Challenge when the public announcement regarding the final Challenge award recipients is made on or about November 20, 2009 at www.americasgivingchallenge.com.

Will another Giving Challenge be held in 2010?

At this time, we are focused on closing the 2009 America’s Giving Challenge and conducting follow up research and assessment.

Back to TopChallenge Sponsors

Who is Causes?

Causes was founded on the belief that in a healthy society, anyone can participate in change by informing and inspiring others. We strive to build tools for people to mobilize their friends for collective action, spread the word to friends of friends and acquaintances, and eventually launch movements that span local communities or even the globe. The Causes application on Facebook was launched in May 2007 and has grown to over 80 million users and over $12 million has been processed through the platform.  Causes was co-founded by Sean Parker and Joe Green, designed, built and maintained by Chris Chan, Josh Adams, Brad Fults, Jimmy Kittiyachavalit, Kristján F’jord Pétursson, Ryan Kabir, Jon Gefaell, and Okay Zed, led by our Director of Engineering, Michel Weksler. Matt Mahan directs business development and partnerships, Susan Gordon and Sarah Koch work with our nonprofit partners,and David Abramovich heads up Causes’ user support. 

Who is Case Foundation?

The Case Foundation, created by Steve and Jean Case in 1997, invests in people and ideas that can change the world. The Foundation champions initiatives that connect people, increase giving, and catalyze civic action. For more information, visit http://www.casefoundation.org.

Who is PARADE?

PARADE, the most widely read magazine in America, is distributed in more than 500 of the nation’s top newspapers. The magazine, which launched in 1941, now has a circulation of 32 million and a readership of 73 million. Each Sunday in PARADE and every day at Parade.com, our mission is to entertain, inspire and inform Americans about the issues they care most about and move them to action. For more information, visit http://www.parade.com.

Why aren’t you partnering with Global Giving this year?

Global Giving was a fantastic partner during the first Challenge and we look forward to working with them in future endeavors.  However, based on our research on the first Challenge, we learned that having two challenges and two donation platforms caused confusion for participants and donors. The 2009 America’s Giving Challenge is streamlined on one platform, the Causes application on Facebook.

Still have questions? Email support@causes.com.