Help

What does it mean to “Help Out” a project or issue?

Clicking the “Help Out” button on an issue or organization page means you’re committed to making a difference on the issue or supporting the organization. For some of you, it may mean committing to learning more. For others, you may be ready to take action today. On expanded pages, we provide suggestions of things you can do immediately to have an impact. We will continue to provide new opportunities to get involved for those individuals committed to each organization and issue.

How can I get updates from PhilanthropX more/less frequently?

You can change the frequency of updates in the “Settings” tab in your profile.

What’s on my profile and who can see it?

PhilanthropX allows you to share information about the issues and organizations you care about. You can control what information and activity is shared by choosing to remove content from your profile. If you chose to log-in via Facebook, we make things easier for you by automatically using your photo and basic information. You can edit any of this.

PhilanthropX profiles are public and may be viewed by anyone on the web.

What organizations can join PhilanthropX?

PhilanthropX is open to all organizations or groups with a charitable mission, from the soup kitchen down the street to a rural health clinic in India. As a 501(c)(3) organization, we cannot accept organizations whose primary activity is influencing legislation or campaigning for political candidates. If you have questions about your group’s eligibility, contact the PhilanthropX team here.

How can I create a page for my organization or project?

To create a page for your organization and to become the administrator, you must first sign up for a personal profile on PhilanthropX. Once you create a personal profile, you can “Add an Organization” from the “Account” dropdown in the top navigation menu.

How does PhilanthropX choose which organizations have expanded profiles?

We are piloting a different style of profile based on user feedback. Drawn from our list of suggested organizations, we’ve chosen a sample that includes organizations that work across different issue areas and vary in size, scope, and age. We will use the information from this pilot in order to help us refine profile pages and roll-out an improved design to more organizations. If your organization has an expanded profile and you have a content correction, please contact us here.

Read more about our expanded profiles.

My organization already has a profile. How can I become the administrator?

You can become the administrator by clicking on “Is This Your Organization” on your organization’s page.

What does it mean to be the administrator of an organization's profile?

As the administrator of a typical organization profile, you can edit organizational information (e.g., Mission, Vision). Each organization can have one administrator.

On our pilot expanded profiles, PhilanthropX writers profile the organization. If you are an administrator of an organization with an expanded page and you have a correction or addition to make, please contact us here. We are experimenting with this new type of profile and would love your feedback.

Why doesn’t my organization’s profile page have a donate button?

PhilanthropX can only process donations for registered 501(c)(3) organizations.

To receive donations, you must provide your organization’s EIN as registered with the IRS by clicking on “Edit this page” and entering the number in “Settings.” If you do not know your organization’s EIN, you can search for it here. If you have questions related to donations through PhilanthropX, you can contact us here

How does PhilanthropX work?

PhilanthropX is a social network that helps people find high-quality non-profits and take meaningful action. We enable people to find organizations and similarly minded people working on important causes in the United States and across the world. Over 15,000 organizations from across the globe have signed up for PhilanthropX to share their work and the stories of the people they serve.

How are you different from other online platforms?

PhilanthropX aims to help people use their personal interests and social network to find the best non-profits out there. Once PhilanthropX users have connected to these groups, we help provide meaningful opportunities to support their work, and in doing so, positively affect the world.

If you have feedback on how we can best help you build these lasting relationships, please let us know!

What does PhilanthropX mean?

PhilanthropX means "to come together" in the West African language of Yoruba.

Is PhilanthropX a non-profit organization?

Yes. PhilanthropX is a registered 501(c)(3) organization.

How are donations processed?

Donations on PhilanthropX are processed by Network for Good, a nonprofit, donor advised fund. A 4.75% grant is made to Network for Good with each donation transaction to fund its mission and help support the expense of maintaining the technology to process and distribute your donations.

Users can choose to include an optional donation to PhilanthropX, a registered 501(c)(3) organization, in the donation process. Your donation is tax deductible to the full extent of the law.

If you have questions related to the donation process, please contact donations@networkforgood.org.

What does it mean to include an optional donation to PhilanthropX?

PhilanthropX is a registered 501(c)(3) charitable organization working to connect individuals and organizations who want to change the world. A tax-deductible donation to PhilanthropX covers operational expenses and processing fees associated with your gift.

How does PhilanthropX choose the organizations suggested to users?

PhilanthropX is an open platform that welcomes all organizations with a clear social or environmental mission. The PhilanthropX team has worked with experts in the field to identify highly effective organizations working in nearly 250 issue areas. This is an ongoing process and we appreciate all input and feedback. You can send us feedback here.

How will my nonprofit organization receive funds from donations made through this site?

Donations to US nonprofits are processed by our nonprofit partner Network for Good; an industry leader in processing online donations with a charitable giving system that is approved by the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance (BBB). Payment for donations made to your nonprofit are sent on the 15th of each month and will include all donations made in the previous month. For example, donations processed in February will be paid on March 15th. Checks will be sent to your nonprofit's address as listed in GuideStar and will include an insert describing the sources of all donations.

• To change the address listed for your nonprofit profile in GuideStar click here. Updates to that form will be shared with Network for Good for future payments.
• To access donor information, you can login to Network for Good's donation tracking report here. You will need to establish a login using your charity's nine-digit EIN number. Once you are registered, you will have access to a real-time online report detailing information about your donors who have chosen to share their contact information. Network for Good encourages you to reach out to them directly and provide information about how their donation is being used to support your mission.
• To get your donations more quickly (and to save paper!), have them sent to you electronically via electronic funds transfer, also called EFT. You can sign up here.

Why are some issue pages longer than others?

We’re currently experimenting with PhilanthropX-written introductions to issues. We’ve piloted this with a subset of popular issues and are soliciting user feedback on whether this additional information is useful before rolling it out to more issues. Please let us know what you think!

Why are some organization pages longer than others?

We’re currently experimenting with expanded profiles that are written by PhilanthropX, based on publicly available information. We’re constantly learning more about what users want and what will be most effective for the organizations on our site.

Our goal is to help the reader quickly understand the basics of what the organization does and what it has achieved. We’ve heard that this kind of information would be valuable to users. Currently individuals can access financial information on sites like Guidestar and Charity Navigator and in-depth information on organizations’ websites, but we’ve heard that people often need a concise, layman’s description of an organization. This is what we’ve attempted to provide.

In addition, expanded profiles include suggestions on what committed users can do to support these organizations. After users find compelling organizations, we want them to be able to quickly and easily know how to support them further.

We would love to hear what you think about these expanded organization pages. We will take your feedback to continue refining them.