Meet Grapevine
Grapevine is a crowdfunding platform designed specifically for giving circles like ours. It currently has more than 25,000 members and has managed more than $13 million in donations.
NOTE: When entering your credit card, Grapevine defaults to a $15 Community Support "tip" to the site. Be aware that, if desired, you should change this BEFORE entering your payment.
What’s in it for members?
Grapevine makes credit card donations much simpler. You enter your card once at our group’s own branded site. Grapevine charges your card $100 per quarter on the date we select, and the board tells Grapevine where to send our group’s bundled quarterly donations.
You will receive your tax receipt via email immediately, and you can keep track of your donations and receipts in your Grapevine account. As with a direct payment, 100% of your donation is sent to the grantee. You can cancel your membership at any time.
When using Grapevine, your contact information is not shared with the nonprofit. Nearly half our members are currently using Grapevine.
What’s in it for our nonprofits?
Right now, our (sometimes small) nonprofits must process more than 100 individual payments and issue receipts. While getting a lot of donations is a good problem to have, it can strain these organizations, especially when members trickle their payments in over a few weeks or fail to note that they are part of 100 People Tewksbury, forcing the admins to manually reconcile names to our group.
With Grapevine, the nonprofit will get one or two bundled payments, directly deposited for security. The charities may still send acknowledgements to our members, of course.
What’s in it for our board?
It’s completely free to create our account, and quarterly charges are made to members’ cards automatically, so board members no longer need to send reminders. And, if we get many members to use the platform, Grapevine will match some of our funds.
Grapevine also offers tools for communication and record-keeping.
Do I need to join Grapevine to belong to 100 People Who Care Tewksbury?
No! You may still pay individually by check, card or cash. However, if you typically do not attend our events or always pay by credit card, you may find Grapevine to be much more convenient.
If I join Grapevine do I need to “tip” the site or pay processing fees?
No! You may choose to cover the fees charged by the credit card company so the nonprofit receives the full $100, or to provide a tip to support Grapevine, but neither is required.
See the bottom of this post for an example of how it looks to donate.
I like it! What now?
Simply sign up, enter your credit card and choose whether to pay immediately or after the event. That's it! We'll be automatically notified when your payment processes, and you'll receive a confirmation in email.
Here is our 100 People Who Care Tewksbury Grapevine Site!
MORE FAQs
How are donations on Grapevine processed?
Grapevine partners with Social Good Fund, a 501(c)3 public charity (EIN 46-1323531), to facilitate donations. This is a Donor Advised Fund that will distribute our donation to the nonprofits we select. Someone on our board will be the designated Grapevine admin and release the donations. Here is that process.
Does Grapevine charge any fees?
The payment processor charges the standard credit card fee of 2.2% + 30¢ per donation (3.5% for AmEx). Members can optionally up their donations to cover that amount. Currently, when you donate by credit card, the nonprofit absorbs the convenience fee, so this is an opportunity to bump your donation by $3 or so and make sure our causes get the full $100.
If you'd like, you can leave an optional tip on your donation that supports Grapevine's work. Totally up to you.
Is my credit card secure?
All Grapevine donations are secured by bank-level, 256-bit encryption. The site is SHA-256 RSA Encryption verified and signed by Let's Encrypt Authority X3.
Can members make a donation by check, DAF or ACH?
Members can donate directly to the nonprofit, as always. Grapevine.org can also facilitate donations by check, DAF transfers, or ACH donations.
When and how will the nonprofit receive the funds?
Grapevine disburses donations to organizations monthly, once they've reached the processing threshold of $100. When we make your disbursement, we also send group admins an email to let them know and provide any relevant details.
Nonprofits that are part of the Bill.com network will receive disbursements via direct deposit. If they are not part of the network, they will be contacted via email with the option to join the network to receive direct deposits. If they do not accept, the disbursement will be sent via check.
Can I donate to the two nonprofits not selected on Grapevine?
Only if the nonprofit has an existing account with Grapevine -- and not many do. At this time, the 100+ People Who Care Tewksbury Grapevine only supports giving to one nonprofit per quarter. We may re-evaluate this if uptake of the service is such that it justifies the extra administrative effort.
