Who I am
Hi there! My name is Jarrad and I’m trying to help charities all over the world. As an employee at a large non-profit hospital system in Pennsylvania, I hear many stories of people in need and my many coworkers who impact the lives of those with needs. Unfortunately, being in the Information Technology department, I don’t get to impact those lives personally and I wanted to come up with some way to help people. That’s when Can You Give was born.
What I'm Proposing
Through the simple act of shopping, you can help to make this world a better place. Before you stray away from this campaign, please let me explain how this is possible. Through the use of something called Affiliate Marketing, my plan is to put together a website where you can access retailers all over the world. Clicking on the links on our site will tag your purchases so that the retailer knows that you came from our site. Once you make your purchase, the retailer pays an Affiliate Marketing company and that Affiliate Marketing company pays us. Once they pay us, we pay the charities. My goal is to crowdsource the funds for the startup so that I can pass 100% of the funds from the retail purchases to the charities.
Why I'm doing this
I am pursuing this because I see wasted potential. Every time you shop online at your favorite retailer, a portion of that could be going to fund medical care to underprivileged children, feed the homeless, or house and provide counsel to abused women. The possibilities are endless and with Can You Give, I hope to have the opportunity to help those in need while making it easier for others to do the same.
What about overhead?
The current annual overhead is estimated to be very low. The server that the website is housed on has a lifetime subscription, the domain name is paid for by me each year and I plan to donate at least 10 hours per month for upkeep, check writing and pursuing additional retailers. The legal filing fees and registered agent services are the only commitments that I foresee.
What your contribution will fund
In order to file as a non profit in the state of Pennsylvania, I need reserve the Can You Give name, submit articles of incorporation, select a registered agent and apply for a 501(c)(3) to obtain federal non-profit status. Each of these items has a fee schedule associated with it. Any remaining funds will be used to pay a website designer, preferably one associated with a small business.
What is in it for you
As a contributor, you will be the first to be notified when the site is up and running. You will receive regular status reports about how much money was raised, which charities were contributed to as well as any new retailers that have been added to the website.
If you are able to be more financially generous, you are welcome to take advantage of the perks listed to the right. They may not be much, but the impact will be huge.
If you are technologically gifted in the PHP coding language or are exceptionally gifted with web design and would like to donate your services, Id be happy to accept your help and lower the amount of funds that Im requesting.