How to double your donations when you fundraise for smaller charities.
During the time I’ve spent working on Streamlabs Charity, I’ve gotten to know so many incredible people who are doing amazing work in the nonprofit sector. I don’t think I fully understood or appreciated how many human-hours were being dedicated to charitable work each year, or how many charities were out there.
Part of the reason for my unawareness is that charities have a very different approach to marketing than we see in the for-profit sector. For-profit business generally value growth above all else, so spending $1.00 on marketing to make $1.01 makes reasonable fiscal sense. Nonprofits are different. The majority of their operating capital comes from donations, so they’re deeply invested in keeping operating costs as low as possible. Donors want to make contributions with the confidence that the money will be spent on the cause itself (not things like marketing).
As a result, it can be pretty hard for charities to get the word out — especially smaller charities that don’t have any marketing departments at all.
This is why Streamlabs is proud to be partnering with Pledges, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping charities of all sizes receive the benefits of 501(c)(3) status within 24 hours (and without the fees). Pledges takes care of all the administrative busywork involved in getting smaller charities established, so that the founders and volunteers can focus on what matters — their mission.
As part of the onboarding process, nonprofits under the Pledges umbrella will now also receive a Streamlabs Charity profile. What this means is that they can get official status and begin fundraising with lightning speed.
Pledges charities are the same as other charities, with three exceptions:
- All charities under the Pledges umbrella use the 501(c)(3) number for Pledges itself (36–4963438).
- All donations made to a Pledges charity will be distributed to that charity by the Pledges organization (at no cost and for with zero fees).
- Pledges has committed to matching the first $10,000 that each of their charities has raised — so your fundraising efforts for these charities are effectively doubled.
Pledges has extensively vetted each of their nonprofits, and has taken on the legal liability for each of them by vouching for them. Plus, Pledges was founded by Murtaza Hussein, one of the co-founders of Streamlabs itself — so if you can trust us you can trust them. If you ever have questions about Pledges or any of the charities in their network, you can always reach out to Cat McArdle by email at cat@pledges.com — she has offered to introduce prospective charity steamers to folks at the nonprofits any time.
Like larger charities that you’ve probably heard of, smaller charities are staffed with passionate individuals doing amazing work. As a general rule, smaller charities have lower administrative costs as well, which often means that dollars you donate can have a higher impact on the mission you care about most. These organization need your help, and on behalf of everyone at Streamlabs and Pledges, we thank you for considering them when planning your next fundraiser.
As part of this integration, we asked the Pledges team to write an article introducing themselves. The following introduction was written by Cat McArdle of Pledges, Inc.
Receive the Benefits of Being a 501(c)(3) Without the Painful Paperwork and Outrageous Fees
You have a kind heart, a charitable project you are passionate about and have the brilliant idea to start your own nonprofit. You’ve done your research, gathered your team, and might even have some leads on funding. Sounds easy enough… then you see the amount of time and money it takes to register as a 501(c)(3) organization. Maybe you do not have the time or resources to go through the process now, or you want to start fundraising immediately, or you just don’t ever want to go through the long, grueling process of filling out the IRS forms. If so, we have the solution for you!
Founded in 2020, Pledges is the first and only nonprofit online community platform of its kind, allowing anyone doing charitable good to fundraise as a fully compliant nonprofit in days instead of months. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that removes the financial and legal obstacles that charitable projects face while seeking non-profit status.
Pledges was created and designed for organizations not ready to register for, or waiting for the approval of their 501(c)(3) tax exempt status with the IRS. We use a mechanism called fiscal sponsorship to share our charitable status with projects across the globe. That’s right, around the globe! We find such beauty in the small organizations and feel that by supporting these organizations, big changes can happen in the world.
With fiscal sponsorship you will receive the benefits of being a tax exempt non-profit without the long wait and high cost. Benefits include, but are not limited to tax-relief for US donors, tax exemption on donations received, ability to receive donations from anywhere in the world, ability to apply for grants, and the ability to use our EIN to fundraise as a charity.
There are many fiscal sponsors out there, but what truly sets Pledges apart is we charge flat fees for our members, and do not take any percentage of donations made to your organization, on top of that we offer match funding of up to $10,000 for organizations on our platform. That’s right, $10,000!
We are currently the fiscal sponsor for over one hundred organizations and add more almost every day. The organizations we support have missions striving to improve communities, education, animal welfare, environment, health, social justice, and much more. The main thing that matters is you are providing charitable good.
One of the organizations under the Pledges umbrella is Better Me, located in Kenya. Better Me has helped provide over 1800 children with essential services such as schooling, counselling, infrastructure improvements, and vocational training.
Another organization is Doggy in Home located in Columbia. Doggy in Home is a foundation dedicated to the protection and care of abandoned animals. They rescue and rehome animals across Columbia, ensuring that no matter their background, they find a loving home.
There are many other amazing non-profits being fiscally sponsored by Pledges. If you would like to learn more about Pledges and possibly be one of them, please visit https://www.pledges.com/ or reach out directly to our operations manager, Cat McArdle by email at cat@pledges.com.
As of August 2021, Streamlabs is proud to support 55 nonprofits in the Pledges network. The following charities are all on Streamlabs Charity. Search here to find them and learn more:
Advisory Association
AfriSmiles — Project Clean
AfriSmiles — Sahaba Centre
Al Caravan Foundation
Allies for Tigray
ANENI TINA TIMM FOUNDATION
APPRENTICE WORLDWIDE
Baliz Orphanage Foundation
Beirut AI
Better Me Kenya
Birchview Haven
Bloom Impact
Bongo Hive
c-Sand Organization
Choice Lab LLC
Doggy in Home
Empower Tigray
Filipinx in Tech
Financial Health Foundation
For King and Country Foundation
Golden Hand Alliance
Health Beyond Borders
Herman@s Artic Tern
Hopewell Helpers
Institute of Emerging Careers
Jawakhali Jubo Sangha
Journeys to Belonging
Kakuma Ventures
Keep Life Foundation
Kindle Africa
Lebanon Needs
Lucky Animal Protection Shelter
Medical Supplies For Tigray
Melon Mission
MHUBMW
NCFUSA
OPSERA
Pinnie
Pledges
Quran Fund
Razas Unicas (Colombia)
Rise Beirut
Rocket Accomplish
School of Life
SJK Rescue Home
SOMOS One
Suhul Charity
Support Education by Establishing A Learning Support Center
Teens4Hire.org
The Giving Penny
The Xylom
Trips Beyond the Classroom
Vasona Hill Foundation
World United Ministries
