Don't Monkey Around This Holiday Season - CHIMP the Gift of Giving and Boost Your Charitable Impact
VANCOUVER, Dec. 17, 2012 /CNW/ - Canadians who care about charity now have an easier and more streamlined way to broaden the impact of their generosity through an innovative online service called CHIMP - a name derived from charitable and impact.
"Canadians are generous. We give. But there aren't any donor-focused tools that help us make our giving easier, more effective and organized," says CHIMP founder John Bromley of Vancouver.
"The vast majority of charity tools focus on helping charities fundraise for themselves rather than on helping people give. A donor's time should be focused on making the most of their charitable dollars rather than wasted managing tax receipts, getting off mailing lists they don't want to be on, or finding information about a charity."
Mr. Bromley says CHIMP provides donors with their own online bank account to centralize and manage their giving.
"Just like a regular bank account, you can deposit any amount in your CHIMP account whenever you want. Because CHIMP is limited to charity, you will get an immediate tax receipt. When you are ready, you can spend that money on creating your own charitable impact."
Account holders can use CHIMP to send money to any charity in Canada and also to send money to friends or family for them to give away to their charity of choice.
"By 'chimping' money to someone else (sending them a gift of CHIMP money), you are giving the gift of giving. Your gift stays in the CHIMP system and can only be used by the recipient as a donation to any registered charity. We found that this is a great way to share charitable values without imposing your own charity of choice on someone else."
Mr. Bromley says CHIMP's aim is to promote a culture of giving by making it a part of everyday living for ordinary people.
"There is no barrier to entry at CHIMP. Anyone can now have their own personal charitable foundation, whether they give a little or a lot. In essence, CHIMP empowers people to give in the same way as the Bill Gateses and Warren Buffets of the world. That's important because people should have equal access to tools and services that promote better giving," he adds.
Money donated via the CHIMP website - www.chimp.net - is managed by the CHIMP: Charitable Impact Foundation, a registered Canadian charity. There is no minimum balance required and no cost to open an account or to transfer money to friends and family for them to give away. CHIMP charges a service fee of just one per cent, which is deducted when money is sent to the charity of the donor's choice. However, CHIMP also recovers the cost of processing money - credit cards for example - something that all donation-accepting charities pay for.
"CHIMP is arguably the easiest and most cost-effective way of giving in Canada," says Mr. Bromley.
He adds that another advantage of CHIMP is that it issues tax receipts to donors immediately whenever they deposit funds. The receipts are filed online and organized into a single report, which can be viewed or printed easily and at any time.
"CHIMP makes tax time much easier. You won't ever lose or struggle to find your tax receipts when you centralize giving through CHIMP."
Because CHIMP issues the tax receipts, an account holder can make a deposit in December before the end of the tax year and receive a tax receipt for the full amount, but can retain the funds in their account until they decide which charities to give to during the following few months.
"This takes the pressure off donors by giving them time to make informed decisions about their giving and it allows them to budget more effectively for charitable giving by depositing once a year or once a month into their CHIMP account instead of donating reactively whenever they are approached by a charity or a friend fundraising," says Mr. Bromley.
CHIMP also educates people about charity by giving them quick and easy access to official information and data about every registered Canadian charity - the same information available to anyone who has the time and patience to dig through the layers of data on the Canada Revenue Agency website.
Mr. Bromley says the charity sector as a whole benefits from CHIMP by increasing donor access to, participation in and knowledge of charity, and by providing donors with a gateway to all registered charities.
"The tools and services we provide open up channels of communication between donors and their friends and family and spreads the message of charity," says Mr. Bromley. "In that way, CHIMP provides social meaning to social media."
But CHIMP is not just about trying to capture more money for social causes, he adds. It's about getting people engaged in charity. "Having money to send to charity helps focus the heart and mind on societal issues that are important to them, and that's half the battle."
SOURCE: Chimp: Charitable Impact
Media contact:
Chris Freimond
604-990-1378
778-840-2428
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