What does it cost to use Give & Grow?
Pledge continues to offer the Give & Grow Shopify app at no cost to our Shopify partners. This means the app is free to use with no monthly fees. We want to make social impact easy, flexible, and free for all brands. The app includes a support team available to answer questions and embed any requested app code. A small portion of the donation goes towards our technology fee, covering app costs and a full-time support team. There is an in-app option to cover fees so that 100% of the donation reaches the nonprofit.
How often am I billed for donations?
Donations accrue in your account with every transaction. The app will track donations and bill your app payment selection of credit card or ACH every time donations reach $50 or every 30 days, whichever comes first. You are billed "only" for the donation amount. If requested, we can increase the $50 donation threshold for customers with high donation transaction volumes.
Are my company's donations tax-deductible?
Yes, donations are tax-deductible in the US to the extent allowed by law. We provide donation receipts within your dashboard for your accounting purposes.
Can I donate to nonprofits or NGOs outside of the US?
We have an ever-expanding roster of non-US charitable organizations that we support, and all are eligible for US tax deduction (actual deductibility depends on your specific situation).
Can I donate to multiple nonprofits?
Yes! You can donate to up to 12 nonprofits at a time. The app will automatically split the donations evenly among the nonprofits that you choose, or you can allow your customers to choose to which nonprofit the donation from their purchase goes.
What is Customer's Choice?
This feature allows you to embed a dropdown of the nonprofits that you have chosen to support to your cart page so that your customer can choose to which nonprofit they want their donation to go. If the customer does not choose a nonprofit, the app automatically splits the donation equally amongst all of the nonprofits that were selected.
What are the specifics about splitting donations?
Normal rounding rules apply, which can change the donation amounts in some circumstances. For example, if you have elected to donate $.02 per transaction and chosen 4 nonprofits to support, when the donation is split to be one-half of a cent per nonprofit, the app automatically rounds that up to $.01 per nonprofit and you will be charged $.04 for that donation.
How do you determine the cost for each impact?
The cost of each unit of 'impact' is based on the average costs provided by our nonprofit partners who work on the ground fulfilling the impacts and report back to us about their programs. We ensure all nonprofit organizations supported with donations through Pledgeling's Give & Grow Impact Funds are registered as 501(c)(3) organizations and in good standing with the IRS. We also maintain relationships with our nonprofit partners to make sure they are able to accept and designate donations toward their programs to achieve the impacts you see listed in Give & Grow.
If I can't afford the full cost of an 'impact' for each product that I sell, can I contribute a fraction of the cost? Will Give & Grow calculate these fractions to display the sum total from purchases made on my site?
Absolutely! Give & Grow will track your donations down to the penny, so whether you donate a full unit of impact per product sold (i.e. each purchase provides a day of clean drinking water), or a smaller amount for each product sold (i.e. $0.10 of each purchase will help provide clean drinking water), it will track in real-time and update as the full cost of an impact is met.
Why can't I choose one nonprofit and one fund to support at the same time?
Each fund supports a specific nonprofit with a quantified impact, thus the impact calculator displays the "number of meals provided" or "number of trees planted" through that particular organization. With other nonprofits, we aren't able to quantify that impact, so we can not combine the two into one impact calculator. A better idea might be to fund a specific nonprofit that supports the cause issue you are passionate about.
Can I donate a percentage of each sale, instead of a dollar amount?
Sure! You can select to donate any percentage (i.e. 5% of each purchase) or monetary value (such as $0.60 from each purchase) per product sold. After you install Give & Grow, you can access these options in your dashboard and the app will automatically update based on the formula that you set for it.
Can I donate different amounts for different products?
Yes! You can specify the setting for each product in Settings > Products. Start by adding a product and then you will be given the option to customize the donation settings for just that product. You can return to change the settings as often as you would like.
Is it possible to allow my customers to add a donation at checkout?
Yes, just follow these simple steps to add this to your cart page.
What happens to the donation when a customer uses a discount code?
If you configured your donations to be a percentage of the product's cost, and a customer uses a discount code, then the donation amount is also discounted. This applies to donations that you, the merchant, have opted to make, as well as when the customer opts to add a donation at checkout. If you configured your donations to be a fixed amount per product or order, then discounts will not apply to the donation.
How much of my donation is received by nonprofit organizations?
The donation amounts sent to our nonprofit partners vary according to the costs of their impacts. After we pay for the cost of running your credit card, at least 90% of the remaining donation is received by the nonprofit. Since we don't receive any other compensation for Give & Grow, this covers our development, infrastructure, support, payment delivery, and other costs.
When do nonprofit organizations receive my company's donations?
We calculate donations made through Give & Grow after every calendar month, and send donations to our nonprofit partners within 15 days of the end of each calendar month.
How can I track my company's donations?
You can easily see all of your company's donations in the dashboard of Give & Grow.
I have a Shopify store and also a brick and mortar presence. Can you help me track the impact from purchases from both of my sales channels?
You bet! While Give & Grow is live on your ecommerce site, you can send an offline sales report to us and we will update your app to reflect the sum of your online & offline sales. To set-up an offline sales report schedule, email [email protected] with the subject line "Offline Sales."
Can I change my selected cause once it is live on my website?
Of course! You can keep the same cause or change it as often as you'd like in the Settings section of your dashboard. The app will automatically adjust to your selected cause.
What happens when an order is returned?
We do not automatically refund a donation when items are returned. Often, items are returned after the donation has already been processed and sent to the nonprofit. However, if the donations are still pending, you can cancel them in the Give & Grow reports section.
Help! I don't know how to install Give & Grow, embed an Impact Calculator or do anything technical. Can you please help me?
Yes, we're here to help. We know not everyone has a development team on hand to help with implementing a technical solution, so we are working on new tools to make working with Pledgeling as simple as possible. If you have questions or need assistance with integrating the Impact Calculator, simply email us [email protected] with the subject line: "Integration Help". Someone from our team of technical experts will reach out and guide you step-by-step to get things up and running!
Do I need to disclose how much I am donating to my customers?
Yes, and Give & Grow automatically displays how much is being donated and to whom on the back of the impact calculator. To see it, click the "i" button in the bottom right corner.
Do I need to disclose anything else?
Pledgeling's mission is to help every business be able to give back simply. Charity laws are always changing, however, so we recommend you speak with your lawyer to make sure you are in compliance.