ChangingThePresent.org is the website of a 501c3 nonprofit.

The total transaction fee at www.ChangingThePresent.org is just 3% and 30 cents. That goes primarily to pay the cost of processing the credit card transactions. It is about the same as the nonprofit would pay if it processed a credit card donation on its own site.

The nonprofits are mailed a check the end of the month following the donations (to protect against chargebacks). They do not have to wait until some amount is raised. They do not have to pay fees in advance of receiving their money.

The information and photos describing the hundreds of nonprofits and the thousands of specific donation opportunities are provided by the nonprofits, themselves. The nonprofits have signed an agreement that they will spend the money for the purposes designated by the donor.

The group behind ChangingThePresent brings extensive expertise and deep credibility. The Board of Advisors includes the heads of the heads of over 125 prominent nonprofit organizations, such as Sierra Club, Sesame Workshop, Save the Children, Global Fund for Children, United States Fund for UNICEF, Rainforest Alliance, Ashoka, Grameen Foundation USA, Lance Armstrong Foundation; International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, and Family Care International.

Other nonprofits that are interested in participating are encouraged to visit the site and register.

I’d like to respond to some of your feedback. First off, it is certainly not our intention to be misleading. We hope that our language is not confusing, and we are open to suggestions on how to be more clear.

The way the system works is as follows: When a donor gives on Bring Light, 100% of the amount charged to their credit card goes into the donor advised fund at American Endowment Foundation. And when those dollars are granted to a charity’s project, 100% of the amount is given to the charity. Separately, we charge a service fee to the charity based on the funds they have raised on the website. This service fee is determined by a sliding scale, and never exceeds 10%. You are right to make the comparison to running a direct mail campaign or other fundraiser–in those cases, the charity gets all the money you give to the them, but they have also spent money to reach you. The advantage to using Bring Light is that there is no up front risk (you only pay based on money you raise), and that the efficiency is high and gets higher as you raise more.

I’ll also note that AEF is not charging any fee for their service (neither to us or to the charity), and we do not have any type of “share” arrangement with them.

It’s true there are other sites out there, but there are significant differences. Many of the other sites are simply directories of 1M+ charities that allow you to process a donation. Bring Light is a community where all the charities are present because they have chosen to be, are available to engage and interact with donors, and are raising funds for specific projects. It is also a place for donors to interact and band together in support of causes that are important to them. For donors, we are bringing the benefits of a donor advised fund to donors who might not otherwise qualify.

Thanks for the interest. We are always looking for feedback, and we will look at our FAQs to ensure we are as clear as can be about how it works. Please feel free to contact me directly if you have other questions or suggestions for us.

Drew