What is GivingPoint?

GivingPoint is a societal initiative designed to educate and inspire young people (ages 13 – 19) to find their passion and become actively engaged in their local communities. Through GivingPoint, we can reach and motivate a new generation of young people who are looking for innovative technology, tools, and knowledge to drive social change.

GivingPoint also provides schools and nonprofits with new vehicles and opportunities to recruit and connect with young people.

Mygivingpoint.org helps teens to:

• explore their interests and learn what it truly means to give of their "time, talent and treasure"
• answer trivia questions to learn about the needs of the community;
• track and witness how their giving legacy is changing the world;
• get rewarded for doing great work;
• give grants to causes that matter most to them;
• share their stories and recruit others to join their causes; and
• download their civic transcript for school requirements and college applications.

This website is a wonderful resource to inspire teens and help them learn valuable life lessons about responsibility, accountability, civic duty and compassion for others. For every 500 points earned, our students can APPLY for micro-grants for nonprofits. Grant amounts range from $100 - $250. The grant amounts and point system will be reviewed each year and are subject to change depending on feedback from our users and resources from our donors/supporters.

Is GivingPoint a nonprofit organization?

Yes, GivingPoint is a public charity nonprofit organization based in Roswell, GA.

How is GivingPoint funded? Who pays for these grants that students are applying for?

GivingPoint is funded by the Myfifident Foundation and other generous foundations, corporations and individuals. All grants are paid directly to the nonprofits by GivingPoint. GivingPoint attaches the teens' grant proposals to the checks that are sent to the nonprofits.

The funding for the grants comes from the Myfifident Foundation and other generous donations from corporations and individuals that support GivingPoint's mission. The point system and grant amounts are subject to change as GivingPoint continues to get feedback from our users and determine available funds from our donors/supporters.

What is unique about GivingPoint, as opposed to other websites that try to help teens in the community?

GivingPoint is dedicated to inspiring teens to create a connection to their communities – to build a commitment for serving others in need. Our website, myGivingPoint.org, gives teens the opportunity to discover their social passion and track their service hours. The unique part about mygivingpoint.org is that teens can earn points that can be turned into cash grants for the nonprofits they care about. As teens begin to track their service contributions and earn points on the website through interactive tools and quizzes, they create their civic transcript.

Youth will have access to educational resources about the nonprofit sector, including impact area overviews, needs assessments, and tools to learn how to give time, talent and treasure. Youth can also take quizzes to learn about the sector and to find out what type of philanthropists they are. They can match their passions to like-minded nonprofit organizations through the Find Your Passion quiz.

Will GivingPoint youth have a user account? How will this be utilized?

Some sections of GivingPoint will require establishing a user account. For information on how GivingPoint is keeping your child's information safe and secure, please review the Privacy Policy at http://www.mygivingpoint.org/privacy-policy.

What is the Points system all about?

GivingPoint has a rewards system for the youth as they start giving their time, talent and treasure. As the youth collect GivingPoints, they can "cash out" grants to their favorite nonprofits. GivingPoint will make those grants and track participation. Youth can also request micro grants from GivingPoint to reward nonprofits. Please visit http://www.mygivingpoint.org/reward for more information.

How does GivingPoint define "philanthropy"?

Philanthropy literally means the "love of humanity." However, many people often associate the term with a one-dimensional flow of financial resources. Money is, of course, a key part of the philanthropic equation, but a more expanded vision allows us to approach philanthropy as a transformational relationship. At GivingPoint, we view philanthropy as "any time or endeavor you are serving others", whether it's through service learning, using your marketing skills to raise awareness for a cause, or even giving a speech about community involvement.

What does it mean to donate time, talent and treasure?

Time, talent, and treasure each refer to the different ways youth can help nonprofit organizations.

Time - The time you spend serving others through a nonprofit, you are donating time. You are doing great work and GivingPoint wants to reward teens with 5 points for every one hour they donate their time.

For instance, when you clean up a park or feed the hungry at a food shelter, you are donating your time (donating your time to help the community, but not necessarily using one of your unique skills or talents).

Talent - The time you spend donating your "talent" is when you use your unique skills or talents to help others. When you donate your "talent" you are taking advantage of your unique capabilities to help a nonprofit. We love that teens are using their skills to help the community, so GivingPoint will reward teens with 10 points for every hour they donate their talent.

Skills-based volunteerism can take many forms, from giving your feedback on a youth advisory board to teaching young kids how to play golf (if you are skilled at playing sports). A few more examples: if you are passionate and skilled at programming computers or using resources on the web and you donate your talents to help senior citizens learn how to use the computer, then that is considered "skills-based volunteering" because you are using your unique talents and capabilities. If you are a good piano player and you go to a nonprofit to play the piano for others, you are using your talent.

Treasure - When you donate your treasure, you are donating cash or goods to help others in need. When you fundraise for a nonprofit, you are also donating cash, so that counts as treasure. You can make a huge difference to the lives of others when you contribute treasure to causes that you care about, so if you post a project and fundraise through GivingPoint, we will reward teens with 1 point for every $10 dollars that they fundraise or donate.

Donating treasure can take many forms, such as contributing cash or goods. By "goods" we mean donating an item to a nonprofit that others need, such as clothes, shoes, books or cell phones. GivingPoint does not reward points for donated goods, but we do count the time you put towards collecting and taking the items to a nonprofit as volunteer time. So, please remember to log in any time you volunteered to help collect and donate goods to a nonprofit.

What counts as service hours?

When you are "serving OTHERS to benefit the community" at a nonprofit, school or religious institution, we consider that service hours that can be logged in and counted as volunteer time.

Here are some examples that do NOT count as service hours:

• participating in sports activities for your school or local community league
• volunteering as a team captain for your sports/ extracurricular club
• selling Girl Scout/Boy Scout cookies or products
• babysitting
• walking a neighbor's dog
• anything you are getting school credit for
• school field trips
• mentoring or tutoring a family member
• paid mentorships or tutoring

Here are some examples of service that ARE acceptable to count:

• hours you contribute at a Beta Club or National Honor Society service event
• teaching a Sunday school class
• After school tutoring program (must be unpaid and cannot include tutoring for family members)
• Eagle Scout service projects
• time spent on a mission trip (count as 8 hours per day)
• time spent at a fundraising event (ex: car wash or bake sale)

How does a teen get started on GivingPoint?

To get started, teens just need to "create an account" through www.mygivingpoint.org. User accounts are free and are the only way for teens to receive GivingPoint points! For information on how GivingPoint is keeping your child's information safe and secure, please review the Privacy & Security section.

What is the maximum amount of grant funds a teen can request each year through GivingPoint?

Teens can apply for 4 grants per calendar year. Grant amounts are $100 to $250. They can also apply for the "Youth of the Year Award", which is another $1,000 grant.

The funding for the grants comes from the Myfifident Foundation and other generous donations from corporations and individuals that support GivingPoint's mission. The point system and grant amounts are subject to change as GivingPoint continues to get feedback from our users and determine available funds from our donors/supporters.

What is the maximum amount a nonprofit can receive through GivingPoint grants from teens?

Nonprofits can receive a maximum of $10,000 from GivingPoint each calendar year. After they receive $10,000 from GivingPoint, they are eligible to apply for further support from the Myfifident Foundation.

What is a Civic Transcript?

A Civic Transcript is picture of your civic footprint – it is the collection of contributions you make to society. Through GivingPoint, teens can create a civic profile – it will include all of their volunteer contributions, dollars raised, awards, and philanthropic endeavors.
A civic transcript is a giving resume. Each time a teen logs in their volunteer projects, GivingPoint will verify those contributions and track it in our secure database. The more a teen volunteers and helps a nonprofit, the more robust the civic transcript! All teens have to do is remember to log in their contributions. Teens can download their civic transcript for school requirements or college applications, or just to see the collection of great work they have done to change the world!

Why does GivingPoint verify hours?

We are very proud of the fact that the GivingPoint system is based on verified volunteer hours. The nonprofit being served or an affiliated organization working with a teenager verifies every single volunteer hour. We believe it is very important to verify hours for two reasons: 1) we want the teens' civic transcripts to be authenticated and 2) since we are giving points to teens for their contributions (which can be "cashed in" for cash grants for nonprofits), it is important that these contributions be validated.

What are the steps a student must take to earn points?

The goal of mygivingpoint.org is to ignite a passion for community volunteerism and a life- long love for service to others. This online tool is simple, requires very little time and our students will greatly benefit from creating a civic transcript. Here's how it works:

Step 1: Students create an account on www.mygivingpoint.org

Step 2: Students begin earning points

WHAT TEENS CAN EARN PER CALENDER YEAR

• Volunteer Time: 5 points per hour, up to 5000 points per year
• Volunteer Talent: 10 points per hour, up to 5000 points per year
• Treasure (Fundraising for nonprofits): 1 point per every $10 dollars fundraised through GivingPoint, up to 1000 points per year
• Service Learning Quizzes: 10 points per quiz (only awarded once per quiz), up to 100 points per year
• Create a Profile: 10 points for completing your profile (picture, certain number of fields)
• Blog Entry (about volunteer experiences or civic engagement): 5 points per entry (min 50 words), up to 100 points per year
• Creating and posting a Project: 25 points per project once approved, up to 250 points per year

Inviting Friends to join GivingPoint: 5 points for every friend that join, up to 250 points per year

EARN POINTS BY GETTING RECOGNIZED BY NONPROFITS

Service tags:

• Freshman tag – 25 points
• Action Taker – 100 points
• World Changer – 200 point
• Revolutionary – 300 points

Step 3: Teens apply for GRANTS to support the nonprofits they care about

Once a teen reaches 500 points, they can apply for a "micro grant" to support a nonprofit of their choice.

Teens can apply for a 2nd grant (once they reach 1000 points) if they have posted a project on GivingPoint and uploaded a picture from their volunteer experience.

Teens can apply for a 3rd grant (once they reach 1500 points) if they have invited 5 friends to join GivingPoint and uploaded a 2nd picture from a volunteer experience.

Teens can apply for a 4th and final grant (once they earn 2000 points), if they have posted a 2nd project and recruited at least 5 teens to create profiles on GivingPoint.

Step 4: View and Download Your Civic Transcript

The civic transcript is a unique document that can be used to augment a student's college application.

Through this tool, colleges and universities will be able to see the impact your student has made and view their commitment to society – further differentiating them from the other applicants. Teens can view and download their civic transcripts throughout their lifetime.