Abstract:
A philanthropic donation management system and methods of use and doing business. The system includes a computing server in communication with a communications network, such as the Internet, a LAN, or a WAN. The computing server maintains information about charitable projects and provides remote users and others with management tools for inputting information about charitable projects, pre-approving or otherwise assessing them, and accessing and managing charitable project information, portfolios, user team member information and access. The system can provide a business based on, for example, providing system, access, charitable fund management, and charitable donation transaction fees.

Description:
PRIORITY STATEMENT  
       [0001]    This application claims priority through, and incorporates herein by reference, the applicants&#39; provisional application filed Nov. 8, 2002, entitled “Philanthropy Donation Management Apparatus, System, and Methods of Use and Doing Business,” Ser. No. 60/345,361 
     
    
     
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The present invention relates to apparatus, systems, and methods for managing and/or assessing philanthropic donations, resources, and projects.  
         GENERAL BACKGROUND  
         [0003]    Philanthropy has been essential to advancement of society and betterment of the human condition for hundreds of years. Many of the very finest educational, health care, and religious institutions and activities have long been the direct result of philanthropic donations and activities. The resulting institutions, services, and products not only often fulfill substantial voids that have not been, and often cannot be met, by government, but also expand the range of options and competitive alternatives to institutions, services, and products provided by the government and non-philanthropic private activities and entities. The net result is not only a more efficient allocation of resources in the market and society as a whole, but also substantial increases in the quality of societal morals, education, human interaction, spiritual accomplishment, and life all across society.  
           [0004]    As the industrial and other economies have evolved over the past one hundred years and more, individuals and institutions in them have developed enormous amounts of capital that they often seek to allocate and donate toward philanthropic donations and other activities. The effort involved, however, in actually making and managing donations on behalf the philanthropers or philanthropic institutions owning or controlling the capital is often a sizable, costly, and time consuming challenge.  
           [0005]    Typically, those individuals or entities with particularly large funds or other resources for philanthropic activities set up their own foundations to identify charitable projects and manage their philanthropic donations. Each foundation then typically conducts investigations into the large number of potential recipients, such as charities, educational institutions, and religious entities, to determine those who will receive donations from the foundation. The foundation often also conducts its own oversight and management depending on the nature of the donation and the level of interest of the donors in ensuring proper use of the donated funds. Typically, each philanthropic foundation must itself conduct these types of activities, and set up attendant customized management and accounting systems and functions, at substantial expense to the philanthropic foundations and those who fund them. This substantial effort and expense can delay and consume resources that would otherwise be available for actual philanthropic or other uses. It also reduces the ability of potential donors to learn of all the potential philanthropic projects in which the donors might be interested in funding.  
           [0006]    For those individuals or entities seeking to engage in philanthropic activities without use of a foundation, the challenges are often even greater. In the applicants&#39; view, this problem greatly reduces both the quantity and the quality of philanthropic activities.  
           [0007]    Nevertheless, the amount of funds available for philanthropic use has been growing rapidly over the past few decades in particular. The applicants have recognized these problems and their likely adverse consequences for those who would engage in philanthropic activities as well as for those who would benefit from them.  
         BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0008]    The applicants have invented apparatus, systems, and methods for managing and/or assessing philanthropic activities having a variety of different aspects. In one aspect, the invention preferably provides a system and method for managing or reporting the status and needs of one or more charitable or philanthropic projects and, most preferably, portfolios of such projects.  
           [0009]    The system preferably provides access to information about potential projects and organizations seeking charitable funding. Most preferably, the system also provides searching capability for searching potential projects and organizations and reporting those that meet the search criteria.  
           [0010]    In another aspect, the invention may preferably provide a system for assessing or qualifying philanthropic projects and organizations according to one or more criteria. Most preferably, the qualified projects and organizations are then searchable or otherwise accessible to users through other management and/or reporting functions in the system. The qualified projects and organizations are preferably also accessible through the managing and reporting system.  
           [0011]    Most preferably, the system provides philanthropic fund qualification, transfer, deposit, and/or reporting functionality.  
           [0012]    In another aspect, the invention may preferably provide a system that makes philanthropic project management, reporting, and/or assessment activities more efficient, thorough, economical, and/or widely available to users.  
           [0013]    Most preferably, the system is readily and widely available to philanthropic donors, managers, and consultants by remote access, including through the Internet or private or virtual private networks or combinations thereof.  
           [0014]    In a particularly preferred embodiment, one or aspects of the invented system or method can provide revenue generation for an entity for providing access to or use of the one or more aspects. In this fashion, a business (or method) may most preferably help fund the development, deployment, and/or use of or access to the one or more aspects.  
           [0015]    Most preferably, such a business (and method) can not only possibly expand philanthropic activities but also provide additional incentives and opportunities to further improve and expand philanthropic activities and projects in the future.  
           [0016]    It can thus be seen that there are many aspects of the present invention, including particular additional or alternative features that will become apparent as this specification proceeds. It is therefore understood that the scope of the invention is to be determined by the claims and not by whether the claimed subject matter solves any particular problem or all of them, provide any particular features or all of them, or meet any particular objective or group of objectives set forth in the General Background or Brief Summary above.  
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0017]    The preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown in the accompanying drawings in which:  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 1 is a schematic of a network architecture for a web-accessible version of the philanthropy management system;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 2 is a schematic of an alternative network architecture for a web-accessible version of the preferred philanthropy management system;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 3 is a flow chart for the “login” and “main menu” procedure in the portfolio management portion of the preferred philanthropy management system;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the “managing clients” procedure in the portfolio management portion of the philanthropy management system;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 5 is a flow chart of the “edit existing client” procedure in the portfolio management portion of the philanthropy management system;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 6 is a flow chart of the “team member” procedure in the portfolio management portion of the philanthropy management system;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 7 is a flow chart of “find projects” procedure in the portfolio management portion of the philanthropy management system;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 8 is the “user options” procedure in the portfolio management portion of the philanthropy management system;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 9 is the “view project details” procedure in the portfolio management portion of the philanthropy management system;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 10 is the “fund project” procedure in the portfolio management portion of the philanthropy management system;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 11 is a screen shot of the “login” web, or browser, page provided by the “login” procedure of FIG. 3;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 12 is a screen shot of “main menu” browser page provided by “main menu” procedure of FIG. 3;  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 13, is a screen shot of the “client menu” browser page provided by “managing clients” procedure of FIG. 4;  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 14 is a screen shot of the upper portion of the “new client menu” browser page provided by the “managing clients” procedure of FIG. 4;  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 15 is a screen shot of the lower portion of the “new client menu” browser page of FIG. 14;  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 16 is a screen shot of the “client summary” browser page provided by the “edit existing clients” procedure of FIG. 5;  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 17 is a screen shot of the “client contact info” browser page provided by the “edit existing clients” procedure of FIG. 5;  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 18 is a screen shot of the upper portion of the “client goals” browser page provided by the “edit existing clients” procedure of Figure t;  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 19 is a screen shot of the lower portion of the “client goals” browser page of FIG. 18;  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 20 is a screen shot of the “client portfolio” browser page provided by the “edit existing clients” procedure of FIG. 4;  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 21 is a screen shot of the “client account” browser page provided by the “edit existing clients” procedure of FIG. 4.  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 22 is a screen shot of the “client reports” browser page provided by the “edit existing clients” procedure of FIG. 4;  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 23 is a screen shot of the “team” browser page provided by the “team member” procedure of FIG. 5;  
         [0041]    [0041]FIG. 24 is a screen shot of the “new team member” browser page provided by the “team member” procedure of FIG. 5;  
         [0042]    [0042]FIG. 25 is a screen shot of the “edit team member” browser page provided by the “team member” procedure of FIG. 5;  
         [0043]    [0043]FIG. 26 is a screen shot of the “email my team” browser page of the “team member” procedure of FIG. 6;  
         [0044]    [0044]FIG. 27 is a screen shot of the “find projects” browser page of the “find projects” procedure of FIG. 7;  
         [0045]    [0045]FIG. 28 is a screen shot of the “automatic search” browser page of the “find projects” procedure of FIG. 7;  
         [0046]    [0046]FIG. 29 is a screen shot of the “manual search” browser page of the “find projects” procedure of FIG. 7;  
         [0047]    [0047]FIG. 30 is a screen shot of the “browse all projects” browser page of the “find projects” procedure of FIG. 7;  
         [0048]    [0048]FIG. 31 is a screen shot of the “project/organizational profile” browser page of the “view project details” procedure of FIG. 7 and  9 ;  
         [0049]    [0049]FIG. 32 is a screen shot of the “give to a project/organization” browser page of the “fund project” procedure of FIG. 7 and  10 ;  
         [0050]    [0050]FIG. 33 is a screen shot of the “options menu” browser page of the “user options” procedure of FIG. 8;  
         [0051]    [0051]FIG. 34 is a screen shot of the “edit personal info” browser page of the “user options” procedure of FIG. 8;  
         [0052]    [0052]FIG. 35 is a screen shot of the “change password” browser page of the “user options” procedure of FIG. 8;  
         [0053]    [0053]FIG. 36 is a flow chart for the “login and main menu” procedure in the project assessment portion of the philanthropy management system;  
         [0054]    [0054]FIG. 37 is a flowchart for the “my projects” procedure in the project assessment portion of the philanthropy management system;  
         [0055]    [0055]FIG. 38 is a flowchart for the “edit existing project” procedure in the project assessment portion of the philanthropy management system;  
         [0056]    [0056]FIG. 39 is a flowchart for the “my team” procedure in the project assessment portion of the philanthropy management system;  
         [0057]    [0057]FIG. 40 is a flowchart for the “search for projects” procedure in the project assessment portion of the philanthropy management system;  
         [0058]    [0058]FIG. 41 is a flowchart for the “options menu” procedure in the project assessment portion of the philanthropy management system;  
         [0059]    [0059]FIG. 42 is a flowchart for the “system administration” procedure in the project assessment portion of the philanthropy management system;  
         [0060]    [0060]FIG. 43 is a flowchart for the “edit existing organization” procedure in the project assessment portion of the philanthropy management system;  
         [0061]    [0061]FIG. 44 is a flowchart for the “manage organizations” procedure in the project assessment portion of the philanthropy management system;  
         [0062]    [0062]FIG. 45 is a flowchart of the “review projects” procedure in the project assessment portion of the philanthropy management system;  
         [0063]    [0063]FIG. 46 is a screen shot of the “login” browser page for the “login and main menu” procedure of FIG. 36;  
         [0064]    [0064]FIG. 47 is a screen shot of the “main menu” browser page for the “login and main menu” sofltware of FIG. 36;  
         [0065]    [0065]FIG. 48 is a screen shot of the “my projects” browser page for the “my projects” procedure of FIG. 37;  
         [0066]    [0066]FIG. 49 is a screen shot of the upper portion of the “new project” browser page for the “my projects” procedure of FIG. 37;  
         [0067]    [0067]FIG. 50 is a screen shot of the lower portion of the “new project” browser page of FIG. 49;  
         [0068]    [0068]FIG. 51 is a screen shot of the upper portion of the “edit project (general)” browser page of the “edit existing project” procedure of FIG. 38;  
         [0069]    [0069]FIG. 52 is a screen shot of the lower portion of the “edit project (general)” browser page of FIG. 51;  
         [0070]    [0070]FIG. 53 is a screen shot of the “edit project (organization)” browser page of the “edit existing project” procedure of FIG. 38;  
         [0071]    [0071]FIG. 54 is a screen shot of the “edit project (description)” browser page of the “edit existing project” procedure of FIG. 38;  
         [0072]    [0072]FIG. 55 is a screen shot of the upper portion of the “edit project (financial)” browser page of the “edit existing project” procedure of FIG. 38;  
         [0073]    [0073]FIG. 56 is a screen shot of the lower portion of the “edit project (financial)” browser page of FIG. 55;  
         [0074]    [0074]FIG. 57 is a screen shot of the “admin menu” browser page of the “system administration” procedure of FIG. 42;  
         [0075]    [0075]FIG. 58 is a screen shot of the “manage projects” browser page of the “system administration” procedure of FIG. 42;  
         [0076]    [0076]FIG. 59 is a screen shot of the “review projects” browser page of the “review projects” procedure of FIG. 45;  
         [0077]    [0077]FIG. 60 is a screen shot of the “review project—general info” browser page of the “review projects” procedure of FIG. 45;  
         [0078]    [0078]FIG. 61 is a screen shot of the “review project—description” browser page of the “review projects” procedure of FIG. 45;  
         [0079]    [0079]FIG. 62 is a screen shot of the “review projects—financial” browser page of the “review projects” procedure of FIG. 45;  
         [0080]    [0080]FIG. 63 is a screen shot of upper portion of the “review project—classification” browser page of the “review projects” procedure of FIG. 45;  
         [0081]    [0081]FIG. 64 is a screen shot of the lower portion of the “review project—classification” browser page of FIG. 63;  
         [0082]    [0082]FIG. 65 is a screen shot of the “review project—contacts” browser page of the “review projects” procedure of FIG. 45;  
         [0083]    [0083]FIG. 66 is a screen shot of the “review project—media” browser page of the “review projects” procedure of FIG. 45;  
         [0084]    [0084]FIG. 67 is a screen shot of the “review project—evaluation” browser page of the “review projects” procedure of FIG. 45;  
         [0085]    [0085]FIG. 68 is a screen shot of the “manage users” browser page of the “manage users” procedure of FIG. 42;  
         [0086]    [0086]FIG. 69 is a screen shot of the upper portion of the “new user account” browser page of the “manage users” procedure of FIG. 43;  
         [0087]    [0087]FIG. 70 is a screen shot of the lower portion of the “new user account” browser page of FIG. 69;  
         [0088]    [0088]FIG. 71 is a screen shot of the “change user password” browser page of the “manage users” procedure of FIG. 43; and  
         [0089]    [0089]FIG. 72 is a screen shot of the “edit user account” browser page of the “manage users” procedure of FIG. 43.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0090]    The preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the present invention is not limited to the preferred embodiments and can be implemented in numerous ways with varying features.  
         [0091]    For example, FIG. 1 shows one preferred PC-based system architecture, generally  10 , for a web-based version of the preferred philanthropy systems and methods. FIG. 2 shows an alternative PC-based architecture, generally  12 , to accomplish the same objects, but obviously the present systems and methods also may run on different architectures, such as LAN, WAN, Stand-alone PC, stand-alone, clustered, or networked mini or mainframe computers, etc. This is only one of many instances in which the invention, even as shown only in FIG. 1, is certainly not limited to the preferred embodiment of the invention. Again, the following disclosure is of the preferred embodiments, but not the only embodiments.  
         [0092]    In the preferred embodiment, a philanthropy support business preferably provides a philanthropy management web-site that can be accessed by philanthropists, their philanthropic foundations, assistants, counselors, and consultants, and by entities seeking philanthropic resources, such as donations from philanthropists. The web-site provides access to two systems. One is a browser-based charitable portfolio management system, shown in FIGS.  3 - 35 , and the other is a browser-based charitable project assessment system, shown in FIGS.  36 - 72 .  
         [0093]    With reference now to FIG. 1, the philanthropy management web-site and related systems shown in FIGS.  3 - 72  are hosted on at least two primary computers  14 ,  16 . One primary computer, the web server  16 , runs Windows 2000 Server SP2 and Internet Information Server 5.0. (Version numbers throughout this application were current at the time of original filing of this application, but it is contemplated that the present systems will be upgraded over time to keep them current and more readily maintainable.) The other primary computer, the SQLdatabase server  14 , runs Windows 2000 Server SP2 and SQL Server 2000 database procedure.  
         [0094]    Preferably, a firewall system  18  is located between the web server  16  and SQL database server  14  in order to protect the database server from entities that access the web server  16  and general Internet traffic. The firewall system  18  is configured to allow only connections from the designated web server  16  and conventional administrative computing consoles (not shown).  
         [0095]    With reference now to FIG. 2, a third logic server system  20  can be placed between the web server  16  and firewall system  18  to communicate through the firewall  18  with the SQL database server  14 . The logic server hosts web services and components as needed, in order to reduce processing load on the web server  16  and database server  14 . In order to support load balancing as network traffic demands, the web server  16  can be supplemented by yet additional web servers (not shown) arranged in a “web farm” or “cluster” configuration. The same strategy may be employed on the database server  14  side of the overall system  10  for load balancing of the database server functions.  
         [0096]    All servers  14 ,  16 ,  20  communicate with each other through HTTP and TCP/IP protocols. Preferably, the servers  14 ,  16 ,  20  pass information as XML as much as possible.  
         [0097]    With reference to both FIGS. 1 and 2, client computers of various types, e.g.,  22 ,  24 , may connect to the web server  16  and any supporting web farm web servers (not shown) via the public Internet  24  through HTTP and TCP/IP protocols. Also, PDA&#39;s (personal desktop assistant computers) and mobile phone computing devices, generally  26 , can connect to a special version of web pages specifically designed for smaller screens over the WAP (wireless access protocol).  
         [0098]    With reference now to FIGS. 3 and 11, the charitable portfolio management system provides a login and main menu procedure, generally  28 , that provides a user login browser page or screen  30 . Through the login screen  30 , a remote or other user, e.g.,  22 ,  24 , or  26 , can enter a pre-arranged user name or i.d.  31  and password  33  in order to gain access to the charitable portfolio management system.  
         [0099]    With reference now to FIGS. 3 and 12, once the password has been entered and validated  35 , the user is presented with a main menu browser page  32 . The main menu screen  32  includes with the choice of clicking on logout web page button  34 , a manage clients button  36 , a manage team button  38 , a find projects button  40 , an options button  42 , and a reports button  43 . The main menu page  32  also includes a second listing and set of these same options (the “main menu options”) vertically on the left side  45  of the main menu page  32 .  
         [0100]    If the user clicks on the logout button  34 , then, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 11, the main menu procedure  28  presents the user with the login web page  30 .  
         [0101]    With reference now to FIGS. 3 and 12, when the user clicks on the manage clients button  36 , the manage clients procedure  44  presents the user with the manage clients, also called “clients menu” browser page, generally  46 . The clients menu page  46  provides the user with choice of clicking on a new client button  48 , an import client list button  50 , or a client name, generally  52  (which calls up the edit existing client web page  53  of FIG. 4). The clients menu browser page  46  also provides the user the option of deleting a client  54  by right clicking on a client name and clicking on a pop-up delete query (not shown) and then confirming the intent to delete by hitting the enter key  58 . The client menu browser page  46  also automatically presents the next appointment date for each client  52  and the amount the client has gifted (i.e., donated) year to date  62 . The client menu browser page  46  also presents the main menu options vertically on the left side  47  of the main menu browser page  46 .  
         [0102]    With reference now to FIGS. 4, 14, and  15 , if the user clicks on the add new client button  48  in the clients menu page  46 , the manage clients procedure  44  presents the user with a new clients browser page  64 . The new clients browser page  64 , and manage clients procedure  44 , provides the user with the option of clicking on a cancel button  84  to cancel the procedure and return to the preceding clients menu browser page  46  described above. The new clients browser page  46  also presents the main menu options on the left side  89  of the new clients browser page  64 .  
         [0103]    In order to enter a new client into the system, the manage clients procedure  44  requires that the user must enter certain minimum client data  80 —at least a first name  66 , last name  68 , home phone number  70 , street  1  address  72 , city  74 , state  76 , and zip code  78  for the new client—prior to clicking on the submit button  82 . The manage clients procedure  44  cycles the user back  85  to the new client browser page  64  if the user hits the submit button  82  without including at least this required information.  
         [0104]    If this required information is entered  87 , the manage clients procedure  44  adds this information to the SQL database  86  running on the SQL database server  14  in FIG. 2 (or  3 ). In that event, if additional information also has been entered (such as the new client&#39;s middle initial  90 , work phone  92 , mobile phone  94 , fax phone  96 , e-mail address  98 , e-mail format  100 , street  2  address  102 , work address  104 , or notes  106 , this additional information, to the extent entered by the user, is also stored in the SQL database. Upon entry of new client information into the SQL database, the edit existing client procedure commences and presents the user, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 16, with the client summary browser page  108  for the newly added client. Unlike the screen shown in FIG. 16, however, upon entry of a new client into the database, at first there will not be any data shown for the particular newly added client, as it will not yet have been entered into the database for depiction on the client summary browser page  108 .  
         [0105]    Note, however, that, as data is entered into the database for the client as further shown and described below, the edit existing clients procedure automatically retrieves from the SQL database data for depiction of the client summary browser page  108  when accessed by the user in connection with a particular client also as further shown and described below. That automatically retrieved and depicted data on the client summary browser page  108  includes a chart of the client&#39;s actual giving and goals for giving through the year as well as a listing of the projects and organizations to which the client has donated.  
         [0106]    The client summary browser page  108  also includes the main menu options on its left side  110 . In addition, the client summary page  108  provides the user with the option of clicking on horizontally aligned file-like buttons for the summary page  110 , the contact info page  112 , the goals review page  114 , the portfolio review page  116 , the accounts review page  118 , and the reports menu  120  (the “horizontal client data buttons”). The user may click on these buttons to activate associated procedures, described below, in any order desired by the user.  
         [0107]    When the user clicks on the contact info page  112 , the edit existing client procedure  100  presents, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 17, the client contact info browser page  122 . The client contact info page  122  presents the data previously entered for the client into the database. The client contact info page  122  also includes the horizontal client data buttons and the main menu options on the left side of the client contact info page  122 .  
         [0108]    If the user clicks on the contact information bar  124  the user can then edit that data in a client contact info browser page  128  similar to that show for the new client page ( 64  in FIG. 14). The user can then revise the client data in the client contact info browser page and save data, if the required fields are included  130 , in a fashion similar to that described above for the new client page. Upon completion of the entry of revised data for the client, the edit existing client procedure  100  presents the user with the client contact info page  122 .  
         [0109]    The user may then, if it desires, click on the goals review button  112 , in response to which the edit existing client procedure  100  presents the user with the client goals browser page  132  as shown in FIG. 18. The user may then click on the “edit goals” section  134  of the page  132 , and in response, the edit existing client procedure  100  presents the user with an edit goals browser page (not shown). Through this edit goals page, the user may enter and save client goal data, generally  133 , in the SQL database as described above for the client contact information. Upon entry of the goals data for the client in this manner, the user is returned to the client goals browser page  132 . This page  132  depicts a bar graph and quarterly statement of current year giving goals, generally  136 , pie chart and listing of geographic distribution giving goals for the year, generally  138 , pie chart and listing of program type distribution goals for the year, generally,  140 , and as shown in FIG. 19, pie chart and listing of stage of growth distribution goals for the year, generally  142 .  
         [0110]    With reference now to FIGS. 5 and 18, the client goals page  132  includes the horizontal client data buttons and, also, the main menu options on the left side  139  of the client goals page  132 . The user may then, if it desires, click on the portfolio review button  116 . In response, the edit existing client procedure  100  presents the user with, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 20, the client portfolio browser page  146 .  
         [0111]    The client portfolio page  146  has a funded projects list section  148  and a potential project list section  150 . The user may click on a portfolio/funded project bar  152  or research bar  156 , and in response, the edit existing client procedure  100  provides the user with an add projects to portfolio browser page  154  and associated procedures for adding and saving project data as described above for other data entry and saving functions. The user may also click on any listed project, e.g.,  158 , and in response, the edit existing client procedure  100  calls  159 , as shown in FIG. 9, the view project details procedure, generally  160 .  
         [0112]    Referring back to FIGS. 5 and 20, the user may click on a remove label, e.g.,  162 , adjacent a listed research project, e.g.,  158 , in the research section  150 . In response, a delete project procedure  157  deletes the adjacent project, e.g.,  158 , from the page  146 .  
         [0113]    In addition, the user may right click on a listed research project, e.g.,  158 . In response, a move projects procedure  168  moves the selected research project  158  into the portfolio projects list section  148  of the client portfolio page  146 .  
         [0114]    The user may, if it desires, click on the accounts review button  118 . In response, and as shown in FIGS. 5 and 21, the edit existing client procedure  100  presents the user with an accounts review browser page  110 . The accounts review page  170  provides the user with funds management functions. These functions include transfer of funds from a third party financial entity into a third-party foundation funds management service  172  associated with the business or entity providing the present philanthropy management system and services. Once the funds are received by the foundation funds management service as shown on this page  170 , the funds can be managed from this page  170  in order to, for example, try to maximize the growth of the funds transferred into the foundation funds management service.  
         [0115]    The user can, if desired, click on the reports button  120 . As shown in FIGS. 5 and 22, in response the edit existing client procedure  100  presents the user with a client reports browser page  174 . The user may then click on any listed report in order to download it (as either a PDF or Microsoft Word document) or have it displayed on screen and printed through conventional browser page printing commands. The listed reports include: (i) a current year portfolio report  176 ; (ii) a year-to-date giving versus goals report  178 ; (iii) year-to-date and prior-year giving comparison report  180 ; and (iv) a custom report  182 .  
         [0116]    With reference now to FIGS. 3 and 23, the user may click on the manage team button  38  on the main menu page  32 . The login and main menu procedure  28  then initiates the manage team procedure  38 . With reference now to FIGS. 6 and 23, the manage team procedure  38  then presents the user with the team browser page  184 . The team browser page  184  presents a list of the management team members, generally  186 , and for each team member, e.g,,  188 , the number of clients for the team member, generally  190 , and the last login date of the team member, generally  192 . The team browser page  184  also includes the main menu options on the left side  194 , an add team member button  196 , an e-mail my team button  198 , and an import button  200 .  
         [0117]    If the user clicks on the add new team member button  196 , the manage team procedure  38  presents the user with, as shown in FIGS. 6, 24, and  25 , the add new team member page and function  202 . The new team member page  202  allows the user to enter  234  and save in the SQL database a variety of information, generally  204 , about a team member. The information includes: name,  206 , home phone  208 , work phone  210 , mobile phone  212 , fax number  214 , e-mail address  216 , biography notes  218 , and login user id and password  220 . The user clicks on the submit button  222  in order to save information entered on this new team member page  202 , and the entered information is saved by the new team member function  202  in the SQL database  232  provided all required information is present in the entered information  230 . The user may click on the cancel button  224  to terminate saving of any information from the new team member page  202 , and thereby return to the manage team page  184  shown in FIG. 23.  
         [0118]    With reference to both FIGS. 23 and 24, the user also may return to the team page  184  by clicking on the my team indicia  226 . The my team indicia  226  is a part of the browser page history trail  228  shown at the top of the browser page  202 . This same type of browser page history appears at the top of all browser pages provided by the present system except the main menu page as shown in FIG. 12. The user may click on any of the various page indicia in the browser history trail  228  and thereby pull up the selected page.  
         [0119]    With reference now to FIGS. 6, 23, and  25 , the user may click on the name of a particular team member, e.g.  188 , and the team procedure  38  responds by presenting the user with the edit team member browser page  230 . This page  230  procures from the SQL database and displays information, generally  233 , about that particular team member. This information  233  includes the particular team member&#39;s user id  235 , name  236 , phone number  238 , and e-mail address  240 . The user may edit any of this information,  233 , and then click on the save bar  242  to save the information into the SQL database  247  provided the required information as indicated on the page  231 , is present. The user may also click on the cancel bar  246 , which returns the user to the my team page  184 . The edit team member page  231  includes the main menu options on the left side  248  of the page  231 .  
         [0120]    With reference now to FIGS. 6, 23, and  26 , from the team page  184 , the user may click on the e-mail my team button  198 . The team procedure  38  responds by presenting the user with the e-mail team browser page and procedure  250 . The e-mail page includes a subject field  252  and message body field  254 , along with send message  256  and cancel  258  buttons. Although not shown in FIG. 26, this page  250  may also include the main menu options on its left side  260 . The user may send  261  an e-mail to the team members listed on the team page  184  by clicking on the send message button  256  provided at least one team member is listed on page  184  and there is data included in, e.g., the subject field  262 . The user may also cancel sending any message by clicking on the cancel button  258  and thereby return to the team page  184 .  
         [0121]    With reference now to FIGS. 6 and 23, the user may import data regarding one or more team members by clicking the import team member button  200 . When the user does so, the import team member function  270  presents the user with a file import browser page (not shown) in which the user enters the name a file of team member data  272 . When the user then hits the enter key or import button on the file import page, the import team member function then parses the specified file  272  and imports the data from the file provided it is in the proper format. When the import is completed or otherwise terminated, the import team member function  270  reports the completed or otherwise terminated import and returns the user to the team page  184 .  
         [0122]    From the team page  184 , the user may delete any listed team member  186  by right clicking on the name of the particular team member, e.g.,  188 . This presents the user with a delete query  280 , and if the user clicks on the delete query and then confirms the deletion  282 , the particular team member, e.g.,  188 , will be deleted from the listing  186  on the team page  184 . If the user does not confirm the deletion  282 , the user is presented with the team page  184  by the delete team member function  280 .  
         [0123]    If the user clicks on the find projects indicia  288  on the main menu options on the left side  194  of the team page  184 , the login and main menu procedure  28  of FIG. 3 is called. The login and main menu procedure then calls the find projects procedure, which displays the associated find projects browser page  40  as shown in FIGS. 7 and 27. With continuing reference to FIGS. 7 and 27, the find projects browser page  40  presents the user with automatic search indicia  290 , manual search indicia  292 , and browse all projects indicia  294 . as well as with the main menu options  296 . The automatic search indicia  290  and manual search indicia  292  include associated text explanations, e.g.,  298 , of the automatic search  300  and manual search  302  functions that are called by clicking on the automatic search  290  and manual search  292 , respectively. The browse all projects function  304  is called when the user clicks on the browse all projects indicia or label  294 .  
         [0124]    With reference now to FIGS. 7 and 28, if the user clicks on the automatic search indicia  290 , the find projects procedure, generally  306 , calls the automatic search procedure  300 , which presents the user with the automatic search browser page  302 . This page  302  presents two queries: (i) how much money the user seeks to give at this time (with associated minimum amount indicia  307 )  308 ; and (ii) what is the target gift date  310 . When the user enters the requested answers into the associated fields  312 , 314  respectively, and clicks on the go bar  316  on the automatic search page  302 , the automatic search function  300  conducts a search of projects in the SQL database and presents the user with the search results browser page  318 . The search results page  318  lists projects meeting the search criteria and presents the user with three options  320 ,  322 ,  324  for each listed project. By clicking on a particular listed project, a drop down menu provides the user with the three options: (i) add selected project to research portfolio indicia  320 ; (ii) fund selected project  324 ; and (iii) view project details  324 .  
         [0125]    If the user clicks on the view project details option  324 , the find projects procedure  40  calls up the view project details procedure  160  of FIG. 9. With reference now to FIGS. 9 and 31, this procedure  160  accesses from the SQL database data for the particular listed project and presents the user with the view project browser page  326 . The view project page  326  displays for the particular listed project: a detailed project description  328 ; project location and primary contact data  330 ; project focus details (economic, infrastructure, social, and spiritual)  332 ; project growth stage  333 ; and current and expected budget data  334 . This page  326  also presents the user with a fund project label  336 , a save this project label  338 , and buttons providing the user with access to photos  340 , videos  342 , articles  344 , news  346 , and reports  348  for the particular project shown on the page  326 . Other information and functions that can be included are (i) a listing of people involved in the project  347 , and (ii) other donor recommendations for this project  349 . The view project page  326  also includes the main menu options on its left side  356 .  
         [0126]    If the user clicks on the fund the project button  336 , the find projects procedure  306  calls the fund project procedure  350  as shown in FIGS. 7 and 10. The fund project procedure  350  first checks the SQL database to determine if the identified project requires funding  378 . If so, the fund project procedure  350  presents the user with the fund project (give to a project/organization) browser page  352  for the particular projects shown on the project/organization profile page  326 , as shown in FIG. 31. If not, the fund project procedure displays an error message indicating that the project is funded  380 .  
         [0127]    With continuing reference to FIGS. 10 and 32, the fund project page  352  displays the brief project description information  360 , a donation amount field  362 , and payment method query section  364 . The payment query section  364  allows the user to select, by clicking one among three payment options: by deduction from the user&#39;s (or donor&#39;s) account  366 ; by wire transfer from an account  368  identified on the page  352 ; or by check  370  to an address identified on the page  352 . After entering an amount and identifying the payment method, the user may click on the submit button  372 , which causes this amount to be recorded in the SQL database as a donation  376  to the identified project on the page  352 . The fund project procedure  350  then issues a donation/funding confirmation message page or window  382 . The user may instead click on the cancel button  374 , and the fund project procedure  350  responds by presenting the user with the prior project/organization profile window  326  of FIG. 31. The fund project page  352  also includes the main menu options on its left side  384 .  
         [0128]    The user may click on the options button  384  on this page  352  (or on the edit options label  42  the main menu page  32  of FIG. 12), and the login and main menu procedure  28  is called, which in turn calls the options menu procedure  392  of FIG. 8. With reference to FIGS. 8 and 33, the options menu procedure  392  displays the options menu browser page  394 . The options menu page  394  presents the user with an edit personal information label  396 , an edit preferences label  398 , and a change password label  400 . This page  394  also displays the main menu options on the left side  402 .  
         [0129]    If the user clicks on the edit personal information label  396 , the options menu procedure  392  calls the edit account information function  404 , which displays the edit personal info browser page  406  as shown in FIG. 34. With reference now to FIGS. 8 and 34, the options menu procedure  392  procures the user&#39;s account information from the SQL database and displays that information in the edit personal info page  406 . This information includes the user&#39;s name  408 , address  410 , phone number  412 , e-mail address  414 . and e-mail format  416 . The user may then edit of the field, e.g.,  414 , and click on the submit button  418 . The edit account information function  404  stores in the SQL database the updated information  426  shown in the page  406  provided the minimally required fields are included  420 . The user can instead click on the cancel button  422 , and the options menu procedure  392  returns the user to the options menu page  394  of FIG. 33.  
         [0130]    With reference now to FIGS. 7 and 27, if the user clicks on the manual search label  292 , the find projects procedure  306  calls the manual search function  302  and presents the user with the manual search browser, or web, page  462  as shown in FIG. 29. With reference now to FIGS. 7 and 29, the manual search page  462  includes a search field  464  in which the user may enter a search term. The user may then click on the search bar  466 , and the manual search function  302  will search the SQL database for one or more projects including the search term in the text fields for them  467 . The results of the search are then presented to the user via the search results function  318  as discussed above.  
         [0131]    In the manual search page  462 , the user may refine the search by clicking on a listed geographic region  468 , a listed project focus or main objective  470 , and a listed stage of growth of the project  472 . The user may intitiate a SQL database search for projects and organizations meeting the selected criteria by clicking on the search bar  466 .  
         [0132]    With reference again to FIGS. 7 and 27, if the users clicks on the browse all projects label  294 , the find projects procedure  306  calls the browse all projects function  304 . With reference now to FIGS. 7 and 30, the browse all projects function  304  displays the browse all projects browser page  474 . The browse all projects page  474  presents the user with a listing of projects and organizations seeking charitable funding in the SQL database. For additional projects in the SQL database (not shown), the user may click on the next page  480  and previous page  482  bars on the page  474 . The user may view the details of any listed project by clicking on the box adjacent the project name, e.g.,  483 , and clicking the add to my research bar  484 . The user may also choose to give to selected projects, e.g.,  483 , by clicking on the give to selected projects bar  486 . Clicking on the add to my research bar  484  calls the add selected projects function  320  in the find projects procedure  306 , and clicking on the give to selected projects bar  486  calls the fund selected projects  322  in that procedure  306 .  
         [0133]    With reference now to FIGS. 8 and 33, if the user clicks on the edit preferences label  398 , the options menu procedure  392  calls the edit preferences function  424  and presents the user with the edit preferences browser page (not shown). The edit preferences page may include information indicating the user&#39;s donation preferences in order for the SQL database to utilize this preference information in ordering projects when the user conducts project/organization searches for possible giving as described above. If the user enters required information  430 , the edit preferences function  424  stores the preference information for the user in the SQL database  432  and returns the user to the options menu  394  of FIG. 33. Otherwise and with reference to FIGS. 8 and 34, the edit preferences function  424  does not store the information and continues to present the user with the edit personal info page  406 .  
         [0134]    With reference again to FIGS. 8 and 33, if the user clicks on the change password label  400 , the options menu procedure  392  calls the change password procedure  435  and presents the user with the change password browser page  434  in FIG. 35. With reference to FIGS. 8 and 35, the user can change the password by correctly entering and re-entering a new password  436 ,  438  and then clicking on the save label  440 . If the user has correctly entered the information  442 , the change password function  435  stores the changed password in the SQL database. If the information is incorrect  442 , the change password function  435  continues to display the change password page  434 . If the user clicks on the cancel button  446 , the options menu procedure  392  returns the user to the options menu  394  in FIG. 33.  
         [0135]    The user may logout from any page, e.g.,  394 , by clicking on the logout button  448  in the main menu options. All pages in this  
         [0136]    Business and operational functions or features that can be provided by the above-described charitable portfolio management system (either as described above or by modification of the above-described systems) are:  
         [0137]    secure, password protected access;  
         [0138]    web-based, browser independent and accessible from any Internet-enabled device;  
         [0139]    provides alternative text for images presented on web pages, making the site more user friendly including to those who may need to have web page text read to them by automated readers in order to maneuver through the site;  
         [0140]    ability to input giving goals that specify objectives such as: geographic giving objectives; types of projects sought; and acceptable levels of risk, all of which can be entered by or for the philanthropist;  
         [0141]    ability to view giving goals in chart format, such as a pie chart showing the percentage of giving the donor seeks to donate to various geographical regions, or a bar chart depicting planned giving by quarter for the year;  
         [0142]    ability to conduct general or detailed searches for projects or organizations that seek funding, from simple browsing through projects, to advanced criteria-based searching, to fully automated searching using giving goals as the criteria;  
         [0143]    ability to create and maintain at least three giving portfolio categorizations: (i) funded portfolio listing of links to “project profiles” for projects or organizations to which the user has donated in the current calendar year; (ii) research portfolio containing link to “project profiles” of projects or organizations the user can research; and (iii) ready to fund portfolio containing links to “project profiles” for projects or organizations that the user has researched and selected for funding;  
         [0144]    ability to freely move project links from the research portfolio to the ready to fund portfolio;  
         [0145]    ability to deposit links to “project profiles” in the research portfolio and/or ready to fund portfolio at any time;  
         [0146]    ability to sort folder contents for the funded, research, and ready to fund portfolios alphabetically (both ascending and descending);  
         [0147]    ability to run browser viewable and downloadable reports (as PDF or Micsrosoft Word files) depicting giving portfolio allocations and positions;  
         [0148]    ability for users to receive e-mail notification when news is released for a project or organization that is in a user&#39;s funded portfolio, with a link to the news appearing beside the name of the project/organization;  
         [0149]    ability to input transactions into the system if completed outside the system;  
         [0150]    ability to submit comments on projects/organizations so that others using the system can view them;  
         [0151]    ability to track and manage money (including with a variety of investment options) that the user may donate in the future, as well as to track, including through downloading of PDF or Microsoft Word reports, of financial transactions with the system, including transaction date, amount, type, and status;  
         [0152]    ability to view, and download, as PDF or Microsoft Word documents, project profiles for each project or organization to which the user has donated funds;  
         [0153]    ability to request project or organization assessment reports from system administrators, which report can then be e-mailed to the users when available;  
         [0154]    indicate coach for the client on the client detail page;  
         [0155]    ability to manage a list of their clients in the system, including ability to add, edit, and delete clients, with each client having personal portfolios manageable by the user and others to whom the user has given permission;  
         [0156]    ability to view and export philanthropic prospectus and other reports that are co-branded with the user&#39;s business name and logo;  
         [0157]    ability to manage (add, delete, or edit information about) a team of users, each of whom can maintain their own list of clients in the system;  
         [0158]    a team member&#39;s clients can be inherited by the team manager when the team member&#39;s account is deleted or diverted; and team managers can manually reassign clients among team members or themselves at any time;  
         [0159]    ability for team managers to assign a commission percentage to the manager for transactions by team members;  
         [0160]    ability for users to designate a commission fee to them from their clients when they perform transactions with the system;  
         [0161]    automatic advising of coaches when new reports are available for projects or organizations that their clients have funded;  
         [0162]    ability to restrict team managers from editing team members or clients unless permisssioned to do so by the team members; and  
         [0163]    ability to restrict coaches or donors from gaining access to secure projects until approved.  
         [0164]    With reference now to FIG. 36, the preferred system, apparatus, and method includes a project assessment system, apparatus, and method, generally  510 . This system, apparatus, and method  510  is initiated by a login and main menu procedure  512 . This procedure includes a login function  514 , a main menu function,  515 , a my projects function  516 , a my team function  518 , a search function  520 , an options function  522 , and an admin function  524 . When the user first accesses the project assessment, such as by clicking on project assessment label (not shown) on one or more introductory web-site page (not shown) for a business or entity supporting this system, the user is presented with the login browser, or web, page  526 . This page  526  operates similarly to the login page  30  of FIG. 11, and upon entry of an appropriate user name and password approved by the SQL database, the login and main menu procedure  512  of FIG. 36 calls the main menu function  515 . In turn the main menu function  515  displays the main menu browser page  528  as shown in FIG. 47.  
         [0165]    With continuing reference to FIGS. 36 and 47, the main menu page  528  includes a horizontal, upper main menu bar  530  that includes my projects  532 , my team  534 , search  536 , options  538 , admin menu  540 , logout  550  (not shown), and help  551  indicia (collectively the “assessment main menu options”). The main menu page  528  also includes lower, vertically aligned new project indicia  542 , my projects indicia  544 , my team indicia  546 , search indicia  548 , and logout indicia  550 .  
         [0166]    The main menu page  528  (and other pages shown in FIGS.  48 - 72 ) includes a logout label  551  and help label  553  (on which a user may click to logout or procure help information in a fashion well known to those skilled in the art). These logout and help features may also be included in the pages in the charitable portfolio portion of the overall system explained above.  
         [0167]    If the user clicks on the my projects indicia  542 , the login and main menu procedure  512  calls the my projects function  516 , which calls the my projects procedure  552  of FIG. 37. This procedure  552  displays the my projects browser page  554  of FIG. 48.  
         [0168]    With reference now to FIGS. 37 and 48, the my projects page  554  includes the assessment main menu options, generally  556 , and a my projects listing, generally  558 , a team projects listing  560 , an upper new project button  559 , an upper delete checked projects button  561 , and a lower new project bar  562 . The my projects listing  558  lists all project or organization names previously selected by the user through the SQL database as well as project status, generally  564 , and project action, generally  566 , adjacent the project name listing, generally  568 . By clicking on a project box, e.g.,  570 , adjacent a particular listed project, e.g.,  571 , and then clicking on the delete checked project button  56   1 , the particular listed project  571  and its associated information is deleted from the user&#39;s my project listing  558  when the user confirms the intention to delete that project  571 . By clicking on the new project button  559  or the lower new project bar  562 , the my projects procedure  552  calls the add new project function  574 . This function  574  displays the new project (general) browser page  576  of FIGS. 49 and 50.  
         [0169]    With continuing reference to FIGS. 37 and 48, the user may take action for a listed project by right clicking on the project action label or area, e.g.,  578  adjacent a listed project, e.g.,  571 . Right clicking on this label  578  causes a drop down window (not shown) to provide project action options such as check status or edit/submit. If the user selects the check status label for example, the check status indicia appears in this label, e.g.,  578 . If the user then left clicks on the check status label, e.g,  578 , the check status function is called  582 , and the user is presented with a status display (not shown) for the project.  
         [0170]    If the user instead selects the edit/submit label, e.g.,  578 , in the drop down window, the edit/submit status indicia appears in the label area, e.g.,  586 . If the user then clicks on the submit indicia, e.g.,  588 , my projects procedure  552  calls the submit project function  580 . The submit function marks the project as submitted and submits it for review by project assessment personnel.  
         [0171]    If the user has selected the edit/submit label for a project, and if the user then left clicks on the edit indicia  590 , the my projects procedure  552  calls the edit project function  592 . This procedure calls the edit existing project procedure  594  of FIG. 38, which displays the edit projects browser page  596  of FIGS. 51 and 52.  
         [0172]    Still referring to FIGS. 37 and 48, a team projects section  560  of the my projects page  554  lists all projects selected by team members for listing on this page  554 . For each listed project in this section  560 , this section  560  also includes input by indicia (which team member)  598  and status and action indicia, generally  600 . The status and action indicia, generally  560 , operate as set forth above for the identically named indicia and labels in the my projects listing section  568  of the my project page  554 .  
         [0173]    If the user clicks on the new project bar  562  in the my projects page  554  or instead clicks on the new project indicia  542  on the main menu page  528  of FIG. 47, the my projects procedure  37  calls the add new project function  602 . The add new project function displays the new project browser page  576  of FIG. 49.  
         [0174]    With reference now to FIGS. 37, 49, and  50 , the new project page  576  includes the assessement main menu options and (i) a new project instruction paragraph  604 , (ii) a required project name field  606 , (iii) a required project security field and associated drop down menu  608 , (iv) a project mailing address section  610  with certain required fields, (v) a project shipping address  612 , (vi) and general project contact information  614  including website, phone, and fax numbers. The new project page  576  also includes a create or next label  616  and a return to my projects label  618 . The new project page  576  also includes a general info label  626 , an organization label  628 , a description label  630 , a financial label  632 , a classification label  634 , a contacts label  636 , and a media label  638  (collectively called the “edit project menu”) on the left side  639  of the page  624 .  
         [0175]    In order to enter a new project into the SQL database and thereby make it available to others using the project assessment system and the above-described project management system (shown in FIGS.  3 - 35 ), a user must enter at least the required information on this page  576  and then click the next label  616  or the general label  626 . The user can instead click on the return label  618  to return to the my projects page  554  of FIG. 48.  
         [0176]    If the user clicks on the create or next label  616  or the general label  626 , the my projects procedure  37  saves the entered information to the SQL database  622  provided the required fields are entered  620 . After the save to the SQL database, the my projects procedure  37  calls the edit project procedure  592  of FIG. 38, which displays the edit project (general) browser page  624  shown in FIGS. 51 and 52.  
         [0177]    With reference now to FIGS. 38, 51, and  52 , this page  624  includes the assessment main menu, the edit project menu, and a page indicator arrow  627  showing that this general info, or edit project (general), page  624  is displayed on the user&#39;s screen. The edit project (general) page  624  also includes the project data, generally  640 , entered and stored for the project through the prior data entry on the new project page  576  of FIGS. 49 and 50. The edit project (general) page  624  also includes the next label  642  and return to my projects label  644 .  
         [0178]    In this page  624 , the user may edit the information shown on the page  624 . If the user clicks on the next label  642  or clicks on any among the organization  628 , description  630 , financial  632 , classification  634 , contacts  636 , or media  638  labels, the information remaining on the page  640  is stored in the SQL database provided the required fields are entered on the page  624 . If the user has clicked on the next label  642  or the organization label  628  and the information  640  on the page  624  is stored in the SQL database in this fashion, the edit existing project procedure  592  calls the edit organization function  644 . The edit organization function  644  displays the edit project (organization) browser page  646  as shown in FIG. 53.  
         [0179]    With reference now to FIGS. 38 and 53, the edit project (organization) page  646  includes the assessment main menu and the edit project menu as well as a organization selection field and associated drop down menu  648  of available organizations in the SQL database. By clicking on the drop down menu  648  and the desired organization in a drop down menu (not shown) that appears in response, the thus selected organization is saved to the SQL database for the project being edited as shown in the prior edit project general page  624  shown in FIGS. 51 and 52. The user may instead click on either: (i) the edit button  650 , which calls the edit existing organization procedure  652 ; (ii) the new button  654 , which calls the new organization function  654 , which calls the manage organizations procedure  970  of FIG. 44; or (iii) the next button  655 , which calls the description procedure  656 . Of course, the user may instead click among other labels in the edit project menu on the page  646 . Also, the user may click on the cancel, return to my projects page button  658 , which returns the user to my projects page  556  of FIG. 48.  
         [0180]    If the user clicks on the next button  655 , the description function  656  presents the user with the edit project (description) browser page  660  of FIG. 54. With reference to FIGS. 38 and 54, this page  660  includes the assessment main menu and the edit projects menu and also includes project detail fields, generally  662 . The project detail fields  662  includes fields for: project overview  664 ; a detailed description of the project for which funding is sought  666 : a project problem statement  668 ; project (organization) constituency  670 ; activities and strategies detail  672 ; organizational authority structure detail  674 ; and project governance detail  676 . The page  660  also includes a next button  678 , a cancel/return to my project button  680 , and the page indicator arrow  638  indicating the identity of the present page  660  on the user&#39;s screen.  
         [0181]    After the user has entered the data sought by the project detail fields  662 , the user may click the next button  678 . As a result, provided required fields are entered  682 , the entered information is stored in the SQL database for the associated project and organization  684 . If the user then clicks on the next label  678 , the description function  656  calls the financial function  688 .  
         [0182]    With reference now to FIGS. 38, 55, and  56 , the financial function  688  displays the edit project (financial) browser page  690 . This page includes the assessment main menu and the edit projects menu. It also includes financial data fields and selections, generally  692 . The financial data includes fields for entry of: fiscal year start date  694 , matching grant details  696 , total funds requested  698 , funding request period  700 , project budget  702 , annual expenses  704 , operations expenses  706 , program expenses  708 , and fundraising expenses  710 . This page also includes a next button  712  and cancel/return to my projects button  714 .  
         [0183]    After the user has entered information  692  in this page  690 , including the required information  716 , and clicks on the next button  712 , the information entered on the page  692  is stored in the SQL database in association with the particular project to which the information relates  694 . The financial function  688  then calls the classification function  720 .  
         [0184]    With reference now to FIG. 38, the classification function  720  displays a classification browser page (not shown) that includes the assessment main menu and the edit project menu as well as the next button (not shown) and cancel/return button (not shown) as described above. In this classification page, the user enters project classification information  722 . The project classification information includes classification data about the geographic region(s) for the project, project focus, and funding stage, of the types shown in the project report on the manual search page  462  of FIG. 29. If the user has entered all required information in this classification page  724 , the user may click on its next button (not shown), and the entered classification data is stored by the SQL database in association with the particular project for which data is being entered  726 .  
         [0185]    The classification function  720  then calls the contact function  728 . The contact function  728  displays a contact browser page (not shown) that allows the user to enter and store to the SQL database contact information for the then involved project in addition to the contact information editable in other edit pages  729  such as shown in FIG. 65 below. Additional contact information can include bank wire instructions or information identifying how to contacts other persons or entities possibly pertinent to the project.  
         [0186]    When completed, the contact function  728  calls the edit media function  730 . The edit media function  732  then calls an edit media browser page (not shown) that allows the user to edit and store to the SQL database, in association with the particular project then involved, various types of media such as photos, videos, articles, news, and reports  731  of the type that will then be retrievable for the project as shown in the project/organization browser page  326  of FIG. 31.  
         [0187]    The media function  730  then calls the my projects procedure  552  of FIG. 37. The my projects procedure  552  then displays the my projects page  556  of FIG. 48. The user may then click on, for example, the my team indicia  736  on the my projects page  556 . This calls the login and main menu procedure  512  of FIG. 36, and this procedure  512  calls the my team procedure  738  of FIG. 39. The my team procedure  738  then displays a team browser page (not shown) that looks much like, and operates much like, the team page  184  of FIG. 23 and team procedure  38  of FIG. 6.  
         [0188]    Referring now to FIGS. 36 and 47, if the user clicks on the search indicia  436  of on the main menu page  528  of FIG. 47 (or on any other page containing the assessment main menu), the search function  520  is called. With reference now to FIGS.  40 , the search function  520  displays a search browser page (not shown) that includes the standard assessment main menu and that allows the user to search for projects by keyword  740  or user name  742  (i.e., projects included in a portfolio of a given team member). When the user enters a keyword or user name and submits the search, the search for projects procedure  520  searches the SQL database for project(s), if any, meeting the search criteria (keyword or user name) and displays the names of the project meeting the criteria  744 . This project display browser page  744  presents the user with options of: editing a particular project  746  (which calls the edit existing project procedure  592  of FIG. 38); (ii) submitting a project for funding  748 ; (iii) checking current project status  750 ; or (iv) deleting a selected project from the SQL database for the user&#39;s team.  
         [0189]    If the user clicks on a project to edit it, the edit project function  746  calls the edit existing project procedure  592  shown in FIG. 38. If the user instead clicks on, for example, the admin menu indicia on the assessment main menu, the login and main menu procedure  512  is called, which in turn calls the system administration procedure  752  of FIG. 42.  
         [0190]    With reference now to FIGS. 42 and 57, the administration procedure  752  first displays an admin menu browser page  754 . This page  754  includes the assessment main menu and three action options: (i) a main projects label  756 ; (ii) a manage users label  758 ; and (iii) a return to main menu label  760 . If the user clicks on the main projects label  756 , the main projects function  756  displays the manage projects browser page  762  as shown in FIG. 58.  
         [0191]    With reference now to FIGS. 42 and 58, the manage projects page  762  includes the standard assessment main menu and three action options: (i) review projects label  768 ; (ii) approved projects report label  770 ; and (iii) return to main menu label  772 . If the user clicks on the review projects label  768 , the review projects function  774  is called, which in turn calls the review projects procedure  776  as shown in FIG. 45.  
         [0192]    With reference now to FIGS. 45 and 59, the review projects procedure  776  first displays a review projects browser page  778 . This page  778  includes the standard assessment main menu and a list, e.g.,  780 , of the particular projects, e.g.,  782 , in the portfolio for the particular user&#39;s team and the particular user, e.g.,  784 , shown as logged in and using the system on the page  778 . This list is drawn of course from the SQL database. This page  778  also includes a status column  788  and an action column  790  for reporting status, and the next action required for, each project  780  listed on the page  778  in order to approve the project for receipt of donations by other user&#39;s of the system, including the user&#39;s team.  
         [0193]    If the user clicks on a check-box adjacent one or more projects, e.g.,  784 , and then clicks on the delete button  786 , the checked projects are deleted from the page  778  and from the portfolio for that user  784  and for his team.  
         [0194]    If the user clicks on a “review” label, e.g,  792  for a given project  782 , the review projects procedure  776  displays, as shown in FIG. 60, the review project—general info browser page  794  for the given project  782 . With reference now to FIGS. 45 and 60, this page  794  presents general information for the given project entered as described above in conjunction with the my projects  552  and edit existing project  592  procedures of FIGS. 37 and 38, respectively. This general information page  794  includes the project name  795 , input id (the user name of the user that entered this project into the system)  796 , input date  797 , project name  798 , brief project description  799 , project description  800 , project notes  801 , project mailing address  802 , project shipping address  803 , and website url  804 .  
         [0195]    This page  794  also includes a vertical “review project menu”  806  on its left side  808 . The review project menu  806  allows the user the option of clicking on a general info label  810 , an organization label  812 , a description label  814 , a financial label  816 , a classification label  818 , a contacts label  820 , a media label  822 , and an evaluation label  824 . This page  794  also includes a page indicator arrow  826  that indicates the identity of the particular page  794  then being displayed on screen.  
         [0196]    In the example shown in the particular screen shot of FIG. 60, many fields, e.g,  800 , are blank—include no data, e.g.,  800 ,  803 ,  803 . The user can see that, in order to continue with the assessment of the project (in order to qualify it for charitable donations) the user should first enter the data sought in the empty field(s).  
         [0197]    The user may next click on the organization label  812 , and the review projects procedure  776  calls the review organizational info function  828 . This function  828  displays a review organizational info page (not shown), which presents organizational informational fields for the project. As with the general info page  794  of FIG. 60, the user can see the information that has been entered as well as fields that may not yet be determined and entered into the SQL database for association and display in connection with project on this organizational info page.  
         [0198]    The user may instead click on the description label  814  (or instead click on the next label  827 ), and the review projects procedure  776  calls the review project description function  830 . The review project description function  830  then displays the review project-description page  832  of FIG. 61.  
         [0199]    With reference now to FIGS. 45 and 61, the review project—descriptions page  832  includes the following information fields for the project: the project name and input data, generally  831  shown also on the general info page  794  of FIG. 60; the project&#39;s problem statement  834 ; the project&#39;s constituency  836 ; the project&#39;s program description  838 ; the project&#39;s goals, objectives, activities/strategies  840 ; the project&#39;s organizational authority structure  842 ; and the project&#39;s governance  844 . This page also includes a next button  846  and the review project menu.  
         [0200]    The user should also review this page to ensure that adequate data has been entered and stored for the project. When adequate information has been entered into all fields on this page  832 , the user and others can use this information to assess the project and determine whether it should or should not qualify for inclusion an a giving portfolio for the user or his or her team members (or their clients or donors).  
         [0201]    If the user clicks on the next button  846  or the financial label, the review projects procedure  776  of FIG. 45 calls the review project financial info function  848 . This function  848  displays the review projects—financial browser page  850  of FIG. 62.  
         [0202]    With reference now to FIGS. 45 and 62, the review projects—financial browser page  850  includes the assessment main menu, the review projects menu, and the project name and input data, generally  852 . This page  852 , as all others in the project assessment system, also includes the bread crumb, or browser page, history  854 . By clicking on any page label, e.g.,  856 , in this history, that particular page in this history  854  represented by the clicked page label is displayed.  
         [0203]    This page also includes the following information fields: total project budget amount  858 , project funds requested  860 , project funding request period  862 , matching grant information  864 , fiscal year start date  866 , project total annual expenses  868 , and project expense breakdown  870 . The user may review and determine the adequacy and acceptability of this information and associated project as explained above in connection with FIG. 61.  
         [0204]    If the user next clicks on the next button  872 , or instead on the classification button  818 , the review projects procedure  776  calls the review project classification function  850 . This function  850  then displays the review project—classification browser page  852  of FIGS. 63 and 64.  
         [0205]    With reference now to FIGS. 45, 63, and  64 , the review project—classification page  852  is structured identically to the review project—financial page  850  of FIG. 62, except that it  852  includes the following project information fields: economic development focus percentages for the project  854 ; infrastructure development focus percentages for the project  856 ; social development focus percentages for the project  858 ; and spiritual development focus percentages for the project  860 . The user may review and determine the adequacy and acceptability of this information and associated project as explained above in connection with FIG. 62, for example.  
         [0206]    If the user clicks on the next button  862 , the review projects procedure  776  calls the review projects contacts function  864 . The review project contacts function  864  then displays the review project—contacts browser page  866  of FIG. 65.  
         [0207]    Referring now to FIGS. 45 and 65, this page  866  is structured identically to the review project—financial page  850  of FIG. 62 except that it includes the following information project information field: contacts  868 . The user may review and determine the adequacy and acceptability of this information and associated project as explained above in connection with FIG. 62, for example.  
         [0208]    If the user clicks on the next button  870  on this page  866 , the review projects procedure  776  calls the review projects media function  872 . The review project contacts function  872  then displays the review project—media browser page  874  of FIG. 66  
         [0209]    Referring now to FIGS. 45 and 66, this page  874  is structured identically to the review project—financial page  850  of FIG. 62 except that it includes the following information project information field: media  876 . The user may review and determine the adequacy and acceptability of this information and associated project information as explained above in connection with FIG. 62, for example.  
         [0210]    If the user clicks on the next button  878  on this page  874 , the review projects procedure  776  calls the evaluation page function  880 . The evaluation page function  880  then displays the review project—evaluation browser page  874  of FIG. 67.  
         [0211]    Referring now to FIGS. 45 and 67, this page  874  is structured identically to the review project—financial page  850  of FIG. 62 except that (i) it includes a save button  885  rather than a next button and (ii) the following interactive project information field: a reviewer&#39;s notes input field  876 . This page  874  also includes the user/reviewer with the choice of: approve project  878 , reject project  880 , or leave project as is for now  882 . If the user approves the project by clicking the approve project click circle  878 ,  884  and the save button  885 , the project administrator is automatically notified (preferably by e-mail) of the approval  886 . Also, the approval is recorded in the SQL database  888 . This “approval” would then show up as an “approval” on the review projects page  778  of FIG. 59 for the particular approved project. In addition, this approval process renders this project available for retrieval of the project information for this project in the portfolio management system described above in connection with FIGS.  3 - 35 .  
         [0212]    With reference now to FIGS. 42 and 57, if the user clicks on the manage users label  758 , the system administration procedure  752  calls the manage users function  758 . With reference to FIGS. 42 and 68, the manage users function  752  then displays the manage users browser page  890 . The manage users page  890  includes the assessment main menu and standard user and user login information, generally  892 , at the top of the page  890 . The manage users page  890  also includes an edit user field  894 , a new user account label  896 , a change user password label  898 , and return to admin menu label  900 .  
         [0213]    The edit user field  894  includes a drop down menu button  897 . If the user clicks on this button  897 , the names of the team members on the user&#39;s team appear on a drop down menu (not shown). The user may then click on the name of any team member shown and then click on the edit button  899 . The edit user function  902  then displays with an edit user account browser page  904  as shown in FIG. 72.  
         [0214]    With reference now to FIGS. 42 and 72, the edit user account browser page  904  includes the assessment main menu and the following information editing fields for the selected user (i.e., the user/team member identified in the edit user field  894  in the preceding manage users page  890  of FIG. 68). These editing fields include: user name  906 ; user phone and fax numbers  908 ; user e-mail address  910 ; user biography  912 ; whether the user has administrative privileges on the system  914  selected by drop down menu); whether the user is a team manager for others  916  (selected by drop down menu); and the team manager for the user (if any)  918  (selected by drop down menu). This page  904  also includes a change password label  920 , a delete user label  922 , and a save button  924 .  
         [0215]    If the user clicks on the save button  924  and the required information has been entered edited on the page  904 , the edit user function  902  saves the information entered on this page  904  to the SQL database. If the required information is not entered, a warning message appears on screen (not shown). If the user clicks on the delete user button  926 , the user whose information is shown in the edit user fields is deleted from the SQL database.  
         [0216]    With reference now to FIGS. 42, 68, and  69 , if the user clicks on the new user account label  896 , the manage users function  758  displays the new user account page  928  shown in FIG. 69. With reference now to FIGS. 42 and 69, this page  928  includes the assessment main menu and presents the new user information entry fields including name  930 , contact information  932 , biography  934 , user id and password  934 , and whether the user has system administrator privileges, team manager privileges, or team member status  936 .  
         [0217]    If the user has entered the required information in these new user information entry fields and then clicks on the save new user button  940 , the information shown on the page  928  is saved to the SQL database (provided also of course that the password has been entered properly) for the new user identified on this page  928 . The new user function  941  then displays the manage users page  890  of FIG. 68.  
         [0218]    If the user instead clicks on the cancel button  942 , the user is returned to the manage users page  890  of FIG. 68 without any saving of any information entered on the new user account page  928  of FIG. 69.  
         [0219]    With reference now to FIGS. 42 and 68, if the user clicks on the change user password label  898 , the manage users function  758  displays the change user password browser page  944  shown in FIG. 71. With reference now to FIGS. 42 and 71, in this page  944  the operating user may edit the passwords of other users, which appear in a drop down menu  946  for the operating user  948  depending on the operating user&#39;s access privileges. If the operating user is an administrator, the operating user  948  and all other users will appear in the drop down menu  946 . If the operating user  948  is a team manger without administrator access, the team managers assigned to that team manager will appear in the drop down menu  946 . If the operating user has properly changed the password fields  950  for a particular other user and clicks on the save password button  952 , the new password is saved in the SQL database for the particular other user. If, on the other hand, the user clicks on the cancel button  954 , the change password function  958  returns the user to the manage users page  890  of FIG. 68.  
         [0220]    If the user clicks on the options label  972  on the assessment main menu, the login and main menu procedure of FIG. 36 is called, which in turn calls  552  the manage organizations procedure  970  of FIG. 44. The manage organizations procedure  970  displays an organization options page  976 , which presents the user with the choice of creating a new organization  978  or editing an existing organization  980 . If the user clicks on the new organization label  978 , the user is presented with a new organization browser page (not shown) through which the user may enter and save information about a new organization. If the user clicks on the edit existing organization label  980 , the user is presented with an edit existing organization browser page (not shown) through which the user may edit information, and save the edited information, about an existing organization. All of these pages include the assessment main menu and associated functions described above.  
         [0221]    It can thus be seen that the above-explained charitable project assessment system provides an automated system for input, editing, review, and evaluation of charitable projects and organizations for possible donations from donors or those who manage donations, preferably through use of the above-explained charitable portfolio management system. The project assessment also allows a user to create automated grant proposals that are maintained and updated on a regular basis. Regular updating of the proposals, according to the guidelines provided in association with the project assessment system, renders the funding process more informed and less risky for donors and those who manage, locate, or implement donations for donors.  
         [0222]    Once a user has input all data for a project sought by the project assessment system, the project is ready for review by the system administrators or other operator in order to determine if the project is qualified for funding. If qualified, the project is marked as approved, which renders it accessible, through a common or separate SQL database, to users of the portfolio management system.  
         [0223]    The above-described preferred philanthropic portfolio management system and the charitable project assessment system both consist of three distinct parts: (i) a browser and preferably web-based and web-accessible graphical user interface; (ii) server-side business logic; and (iii) central relational SQL database for storing, revising, displaying, and searching data.  
         [0224]    The graphical user interface consists of browser or web pages built using a combination of HTML, JavaScript, Cascading Style Sheets, and Active Server Pages. The web pages are served by Microsoft&#39;s Internet Information Server running on a Windows 2000 Server. Cascading Style Sheets are used to control the look of the text on the pages, and custom developed graphics contribute to the overall look and feel of the pages and the navigation system. The navigation system consists of a basic menu system that identifies the top-level categories of the application. Once a top-level category has been chosen from the menu, the sub-level categories are available for selection. Near the top of each page, there is a “bread crumb” trail that displays the history of the pages the user has moved through to arrive at the current page.  
         [0225]    The server-side business logic consists of a series of traditional components: .NET components and web services. Traditional components are built with Visual Basic and compiled into DLL (Dynamic Link Library) files that are hosted on a Windows 2000 Server. NET components are created with the C# programming language and are hosted on a Windows 2000 Server that has the Microsoft NET SDK installed. Microsoft NET Web Services are also used to execute certain business processes. Web Services provide an HTTP interface for executing business processes in the philanthropic portfolio management system. The processes that are implemented as Web Services will be called by many of the Active Server Pages as users use this system. Additionally, the Web Services also may be called by additional systems that can be developed and added to the system in the future.  
         [0226]    The relational SQL database portion of the systems utilize Microsoft&#39;s SQL Database Server as noted above. This SQL database consists of a series of tables that contain rows and columns that identify and define the data in the SQL database. The data in the database consists of:  
         [0227]    information about each user and team in the system;  
         [0228]    portfolios for each philanthropist that uses the system (both direct and indirect users);  
         [0229]    information about each of the charitable projects and organizations that are approved to receive funding in the system, including:  
         [0230]    general project information;  
         [0231]    organization information;  
         [0232]    contact information for people or entities associated with the project;  
         [0233]    project classification information;  
         [0234]    project geographical involvement;  
         [0235]    detailed project descriptions and goals;  
         [0236]    media information, including pictures, movies, articles, and other documents.  
         [0237]    information about each philanthropist&#39;s goal for giving;  
         [0238]    transactional detail about each charitable financial transaction that is handled by the system; and  
         [0239]    project assessment information for projects currently under review and others already reviewed.  
         [0240]    The SQL database also utilizes stored procedures for performing many database related functions such as inserts, updates, and deletions, as well as queries by the users and the systems. The inclusion of stored procedures provides an added level of security and performance to the database component of the overall system.  
         [0241]    The SQL database may be structured as one database, as described above, supporting both the portfolio management system and the project assessment system. Alternatively, the SQL database may be two separate databases, one for each such system. In the latter case, projects are transferred when approved from the project assessment system SQL database to the portfolio management system SQL database.  
         [0242]    While the preferred database consists of one or more SQL databases, other database systems and formats, including those that are not relational, may be utilized. The same is true of the other system components, such as the operating system for example. Although the applicants preferred embodiment is a Windows 2000 operating system, other operating systems may be used, such as Unix, Linux, or others that may run on Apple Macs or other types of computers.  
         [0243]    The foregoing systems and methods may be utilized in order to provide a method of doing of doing business. The business earns revenue in one or more of the following ways:  
         [0244]    charging a periodic fee for access to, or operating or maintaining, one system or both systems or data maintained by the system(s) or their users;  
         [0245]    charging a transactional fee for donation transactions that take place through one system or both systems or in conjunction with use of one or both of them;  
         [0246]    receiving a commission or fee for money managed or donated through or with one systems or both systems;  
         [0247]    charging a fee for the amount of time spent using one system or both systems; and  
         [0248]    charging a fee for conducting a charitable project or organization assessment.  
         [0249]    The term “fee” may include forms of remuneration other than cash, including for example barter remuneration.  
         [0250]    It is to be understood that term “charitable project” can include “charitable organization” or other entity or activity pursuing charitable donations, resources, or funding.  
         [0251]    The system described above is generally architectected as two application systems: the philanthropic portfolio management system and the charitable project assessment system. Both systems preferably access information from the SQL database(s). These two applications could be combined into one system provide much the same functionality, however. Similarly, these two applications could be divided up into more applications if desired.