Wow, thanks for the great write-up--you described it better than we could. And that's a sweet looking tiara you've got there.
Beth
· 1 year ago
I know - I'm thinking of adding that tiara to my everyday work wardrobe!
Kalev
· 1 year ago
Well... I think that given they take 2.5% when you cash out, they outght to adjust your dream amount by that to reflect it. Otherwise, you'll want $1000 but you'll only get $975. Not that big a deal on $1000 but when you starting getting to $10,000... $250 is a lot of money.
Plus, as we discussed previously, there really should be some sort of tier system/sliding scale when it comes to the charge per donation. $2.50 represents 25% of a $10 donation but only 2.5% of a $100 one. That discourages getting small donations (or rather, makes getting small donations MUCH less useful) which completely negates the impact of "sharing" the cost of your dream among many people. But if you think about, it nets the company WAAAAY more money for small donations--and most donations are not likely going to be of the $100+ variety. And honestly, a per-transaction fee AND a cash-out fee? Talk about double-charging... what are they, Bell and Telus?
Overall, mixing business with charity just sounds like a really bad idea and leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. Kinda like how awful it is that non-profits and charities have adopted "business language" when describing their organisations (or like educational institutions have). Non-profits and charities are NOT businesses. They are non-profits and charities... and money should never be their bottom line, yet when you mix them with for-profit enterprises like this, it drives them to the bottom, so to speak.
Beth
· 1 year ago
what are they, Bell and Telus? Non-profits and charities are NOT businesses.
I don't see this as a charity trying to be a business. It's a business that is also giving to charity, which to me is totally a different thing, because they aren't a charity who is focusing on their bottom line, but rather a business who is focusing on their bottom line, but who also give some cash to charities.
I agree that the per-transaction fee, regardless of donation amount, can make a big difference on those smaller donations. But if you are thinking about it from the idea of you-aren't-shipping-and-wrapping-a-present angle, it would cost just as much to ship a small expensive present as it would a small cheap one.
As for adjusting your dream amount - they actually suggest that you take that into consideration when you are setting up your dream total. Since mine is only a fraction of my total student loan debt and $20,000 is the max you can ask for, I couldn't adjust mine upwards to account for it.
Todd Sieling
· 1 year ago
What a great blog post, Beth. Thanks so much for checking out DreamBank, and for so perfectly summing up our defining points.
Kalev raises a really important concern about the inter-relationships between charities and businesses, and I'd like to speak to that for a moment. I definitely hear the concern that the needs of a business can push the intentions a charitable institution into a grey zone if they aren't careful. Charities and business are mixed by merely being in the same world. Charities have their own bills to pay, and not meeting those costs can spell the end of the. Given this reality, charities have forged relationships with businesses as facilitators and contributors for many years.
We've built DreamBank so that contributions to charities are an integral part of our collaborative fundraising model, and it's something we're really proud of. The fees we charge are needed to ensure that we can pay our bills and keep DreamBank running and growing, so they're necessary, but certainly up for discussion. In that spirit, we're open to ideas about how it could be done better.
All Comments
Plus, as we discussed previously, there really should be some sort of tier system/sliding scale when it comes to the charge per donation. $2.50 represents 25% of a $10 donation but only 2.5% of a $100 one. That discourages getting small donations (or rather, makes getting small donations MUCH less useful) which completely negates the impact of "sharing" the cost of your dream among many people. But if you think about, it nets the company WAAAAY more money for small donations--and most donations are not likely going to be of the $100+ variety. And honestly, a per-transaction fee AND a cash-out fee? Talk about double-charging... what are they, Bell and Telus?
Overall, mixing business with charity just sounds like a really bad idea and leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. Kinda like how awful it is that non-profits and charities have adopted "business language" when describing their organisations (or like educational institutions have). Non-profits and charities are NOT businesses. They are non-profits and charities... and money should never be their bottom line, yet when you mix them with for-profit enterprises like this, it drives them to the bottom, so to speak.
Non-profits and charities are NOT businesses.
I don't see this as a charity trying to be a business. It's a business that is also giving to charity, which to me is totally a different thing, because they aren't a charity who is focusing on their bottom line, but rather a business who is focusing on their bottom line, but who also give some cash to charities.
I agree that the per-transaction fee, regardless of donation amount, can make a big difference on those smaller donations. But if you are thinking about it from the idea of you-aren't-shipping-and-wrapping-a-present angle, it would cost just as much to ship a small expensive present as it would a small cheap one.
As for adjusting your dream amount - they actually suggest that you take that into consideration when you are setting up your dream total. Since mine is only a fraction of my total student loan debt and $20,000 is the max you can ask for, I couldn't adjust mine upwards to account for it.
Kalev raises a really important concern about the inter-relationships between charities and businesses, and I'd like to speak to that for a moment. I definitely hear the concern that the needs of a business can push the intentions a charitable institution into a grey zone if they aren't careful. Charities and business are mixed by merely being in the same world. Charities have their own bills to pay, and not meeting those costs can spell the end of the. Given this reality, charities have forged relationships with businesses as facilitators and contributors for many years.
We've built DreamBank so that contributions to charities are an integral part of our collaborative fundraising model, and it's something we're really proud of. The fees we charge are needed to ensure that we can pay our bills and keep DreamBank running and growing, so they're necessary, but certainly up for discussion. In that spirit, we're open to ideas about how it could be done better.
Thanks again for the comments and interest!