US 2016/0092942 A1 - Transaction System And Methods For Integrating Philanthropy And Volunteering - The Lens

Transaction System And Methods For Integrating Philanthropy And Volunteering

Published: Mar 31, 2016
Earliest Priority: Sep 26 2014
Family: 1
Cited Works: 0
Cited by: 0
Cites: 4
Additional Info: Full text

Abstract

The present invention provides a system for managing charitable funds in the ecosystem of corporations, philanthropists, volunteers and non-profits that do social good. Participants may sponsor and cause to issue a finite number of alternative currency units, with varying conditions on use. These units are transferred to volunteers who are supporting a non-profit organization corresponding to the volunteer hours spent by each. The earned units may be gifted by each volunteer to any non-profit organization. Alternatively, the units may be directly granted to a non-profit by corporations and philanthropists corresponding to the units earned by each volunteer. The non-profits voluntarily accept the units and spend it to generate social good. These new methods to pledge, sponsor, issue, buy, sell, earn, store, gift and spend the alternative currency units create a vibrant, community that multiplies the social good generated.

Claims

A method for facilitating transactions of charitable funds among corporations, philanthropists, volunteers, non-profit organizations, and governmental organizations, the method comprising:
creating finite units of an alternative currency, wherein each unit has a face value and a store of value associated therewith;

allowing a corporation or a philanthropist to sponsor, pledge and guarantee at least one alternative currency unit from the finite number of alternative currency units, wherein the at least one alternative currency unit is sponsored at a fraction of the face value associated with the at least one alternative currency unit;

allowing a transfer of the at least one alternative currency unit from the corporation or the philanthropist to a volunteer based on a matching between volunteer hours accrued with the volunteer and the store of value of the alternative currency unit; and

facilitating at least one of the corporation and the philanthropist to credit charitable funds to a non-profit organization in exchange of the at least one alternative currency unit, wherein the at least one alternative currency unit is gifted by the volunteer to another volunteer or to a non-profit organization, and wherein the credited charitable funds are equivalent of the face value associated with the at least one alternative currency unit.
The method of claim 1, further comprising associating one or more conditions to the alternative currency unit to meet one or more social purposes.
The method of claim 1, wherein the alternative currency unit is pledged, sponsored, guaranteed, and programmed by at least one of the corporation and the philanthropist.
The method of claim 1, wherein the alternative currency units are directly granted to the non-profit organization by at least one of the corporation and the philanthropist corresponding to units earned by the volunteer.
The method of claim 1, wherein the alternative currency units in circulation may be bought and sold among the participants in the market for social good, providing liquidity for the alternative currency units.
The method of claim 1, further comprising allowing cashing of the transferred at least one alternative currency unit by the volunteer to other volunteers or to non-profits engaged in charitable purposes.
The method of claim 1, further comprising disallowing cashing of the at least one alternative currency unit by the volunteers for personal consumption.
The method of claim 1, further comprising allowing cashing of the at least one alternative currency unit only by the non-profit organization and only for social good activities.
The method of claim 1, wherein the alternative currency includes one of a crypto-currency, a gift-card, a plurality of points, a certificate, a plurality of air-miles, and a coupon.
The method of claim 1, wherein the alternative currency unit includes one or more multiple distinguishing characteristics.
The method of claim 10, wherein the multiple distinguishing characteristics include one or more of an issuer type, a volunteer type, a match type, a match rate, a match limit, a duration, a certifier, a recipient, a payment type, a participating merchant, and a validity of currency units.
A system for facilitating transactions of charitable funds among corporations, philanthropists, volunteers, non-profit organizations, and governmental organizations dedicated to social causes, the system comprising:
a central server comprising a processor and a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the processor is configured for:

creating finite units of an alternative currency, wherein each unit has a face value and a store of value associated therewith;

storing data associated with the alternative currency on to the memory;

allowing a corporation or a philanthropist to sponsor at least one alternative currency unit from the finite number of alternative currency units, wherein the at least one alternative currency unit is sponsored at a fraction of the face value associated with the at least one alternative currency unit;

allowing a transfer of the at least one alternative currency unit from the corporation or the philanthropist to a volunteer based on a matching between volunteer hours accrued with the volunteer and the store of value of the alternative currency unit,

wherein, at least one of the corporation and the philanthropist credit charitable funds to a non-profit organization in exchange of the at least one alternative currency unit, wherein the at least one alternative currency unit is gifted by the volunteer to the non-profit organization, and wherein the credited charitable funds are equivalent of the face value associated with the at least one alternative currency unit; and

updating the data stored on to the memory based on at least the sponsorship of the alternative currency unit, the transfer of the alternative currency unit, the credit of the charitable funds, and the gifting of the alternative currency unit.
The system of claim 12 further comprising:
one or more client computers, each with the corporation, the philanthropist, the volunteer, and the non-profit organization, wherein each client computers is communicatively coupled to the central server and the corporation, the philanthropist, the volunteer, and the non-profit organization transact with the central server by way of a corresponding client computer.