Abstract:
System and methods for donation direction with transaction verification are provided. A system implemented method includes electronically receiving a first data file including an amount of a transaction between a user and the affiliate and a unique identifier associated with the user and the donation system, creating a record in an electronic database indicating an amount of money to be received from the affiliate for charity accounts, electronically receiving a second data file containing data captured by a personal computing device of the user regarding the transaction, comparing, verifying the amount of the transaction based on the first and second data files, and transmitting instructions to cause a transfer from an affiliate account to each of charity accounts portions of the amount of money based on an apportionment from the user.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/836,046 filed Mar. 15, 2013 entitled “USER DIRECTED DONATION SYSTEM AND METHOD, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. 
     
    
     FIELD OF INVENTION 
       [0002]    This invention relates generally to systems and methods for electronic donation and, more particularly, to systems and methods for electronic donation direction including electronic transaction verification. 
       BACKGROUND ART 
       [0003]    Presently, donations can originate from many sources. People may donate money or property directly to a charity. Businesses often donate money or goods to charities as well. However, businesses often try to use their charitable donations to attract additional customers. For example, a business may advertise that it donates to a specific charity, and hope that prospective customers will patronize the business in approval of such donations. Additionally, businesses may form a partnership with a specific charity, and advertise special programs in which a portion of sales—either during a given time period or of a certain type of good/service—will be donated to that charity. Again, businesses employ such programs in the hope that consumers will approve of the charitable donations, and increase or continue their level of patronization of such business. 
         [0004]    Occasionally, businesses will form even stronger ties with a specific charity. The business may agree to sell or provide a gift card or other discount card to the charity for the charity to sell off. Typically, the gift card can be sold by the charity (and is redeemable at the business) for an amount which is higher than the amount paid by the charity for the gift cards. For example, the business may sell $20 gift cards to the charity for only $15 dollars. The business thereby “donates” the $5 difference between the value and price of the card to the charity, and in turn receives business from the people who purchase the gift cards from the charity. 
         [0005]    Some businesses issue scrip cards to charities which hand out the cards to consumers. When a consumer scans the re-usable scrip card at point of sale, the business&#39;s computer system causes the business to donate a predetermined percentage of the sale to the charity associated with the scrip card. The user receives no discount, but the charity receives a donation. 
         [0006]    However, each of the above methodologies presents problems for users and businesses and consumers. For example, when businesses associate themselves with specific charities, consumers who don&#39;t approve of that charity&#39;s goals and principles may avoid the business. Additionally, when charities buy discounted gift cards from businesses, they are somewhat gambling that consumers will want to buy those gift cards. However, a consumer that has no interest in the types of goods and services offered by that specific business may not be interested in gift cards from that business. Similarly, scrip cards can only be used for purchases at the business which issued them. A consumer is then forced to shop at that specific business if it wants a portion of the value of its transaction to be donated. 
         [0007]    A remedy to alleviate these constraints on consumers and the risks on charities and businesses is needed 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
       [0008]    In one embodiment, the user directed donations system allows the user to do business with any affiliated organization, and cause a portion of the value of any transaction with such an affiliated organization to be donated to one or more charities of the user&#39;s choosing. The system allows organizations, such as businesses, to sign on as affiliates. Consumers can also sign on as users, at which point accounts are created for them. 
         [0009]    Each affiliate agrees to donate a percentage of the value of each transaction which occurs between the affiliate and a user. The affiliate may select the percentage of the transaction which will be donated, and may change the selected percentage at any time for future transactions. Similarly, the user may select any legitimate, registered charity or charities to receive donations from its transactions with an affiliate. When a user selects more than one charity, the user may select the percentage of the total donation generated from each of its transactions that is to be is donated to each selected charity. The user may also change the percentages of the total donation generated which will go to its selected charities at any time. 
         [0010]    By way of example, an affiliate may choose to donate 2% of each transaction with a user, and the user may select first and second charities which will receive 75% and 25% of generated donations, respectively. Thus, if the user spends $100 at the affiliate, the affiliate will donate 2% of that transaction—$2 in this case—to the first and second charities. The first charity receives 75% of the $2 donation, while the second charity receives 25%. Therefore, the first charity receives $1.50 ($100.times.0.02.times.0.75) while the second charity receives $0.50 ($100.times.0.02.times.0.25). It is noted that a small portion of each amount received from an affiliate—such as approximately 20%—may be retained by the system as payment to the system. In the above transaction, the actual amounts donated to the first and second charities would therefore actually be $1.20 and $0.40, with the remaining $0.40, or 20% of the $2 donation, being paid to the system. However, for ease of reference herein, transactions will be discussed without reference to such payments to the system, which are assumed. 
         [0011]    In operation, a user&#39;s smartphone or PDA or tablet or the like may display a unique scannable code. It is noted that a scannable card or a unique ID may be used instead of a digitally displayed scannable code, although such embodiments are not preferred. At the point of sale at an affiliate location, the user may scan the code with the affiliate&#39;s scanner (or otherwise input the unique ID). During an online transaction, the user could input the identifier at the point of sale during the purchase process. Such identifier is preferably recognizable by any affiliate, and serves to associate the user with the transaction. In this manner, the affiliate system flags the transaction as requiring a donation. The affiliate system then communicates to the donation system that the user has participated in a sale which has generated a donation of a determined amount. The donation system then determines how much of that donation amount to route to each of the user&#39;s selected charities. The donation system then tracks the user&#39;s “activity,” both in terms of the location of the transaction itself, and the amount the transaction caused to be donated to the selected charities. 
         [0012]    Alternatively, at point of sale, the affiliate may print out a receipt that includes a scannable object, such as a bar code or QR code, or a unique human-readable code. The amount of the transaction is encoded in the code. A user may then scan the printed code with, for example, a smartphone app which utilizes the phone&#39;s camera. Where the code is a human-readable code, the user may simply transmit the code to the donation system manually, such as by typing it into a mobile application associated with the donation system or into a website associated with the donation system. By scanning or otherwise inputting the code to the donation system, the donation system is made aware of the transaction and the amount to be donated to the user&#39;s selected charities. The actual donation and tracking then occurs as discussed above. However, at the end of a predetermined period, such as at the end of each month, the donation system may then reconcile its donations with the affiliates. 
         [0013]    The donation system may also interact with one or more social networks as are commonly known. For example, the donation system may automatically, with the user&#39;s permission, post a message from the user&#39;s social networking account regarding the transaction. In this way, friends of the user can see that the user is actively contributing to charities, and may encourage the user&#39;s friends to participate as well. The donation system thereby leads to so-called “gamification,” in which individual users and/or groups of users can compete to cause the most donations to one or more charities. 
         [0014]    Businesses may participate in this gamification by forming partnerships with certain charities and selecting those charities as preferred charities. The affiliate may donate a higher percentage of any transaction where the donation is routed to a preferred charity. For example, slightly modifying the above example, the affiliate may determine that the first charity is a preferred charity, and will therefore donate 4% of a given transaction rather than the standard 2% if the donation is routed to that charity. In the above example, if the user spends $100 with the affiliate, the affiliate will still donate $0.50 to the second charity ($100.times.0.02.times.0.25), but the first charity will receive $3 ($100.times.0.04.times.0.75). Thus, the business receives the benefit of partnering with one or more charities by appealing to those individuals who also support the preferred charities. However, individuals who do not support those charities are not as dissuaded from doing business with the affiliate, because those users can still ensure that the donations generated from their transactions are not routed to the preferred charities. 
         [0015]    Gamification may also occur in other ways within the donation system. For example, the donation system may allow users to “wager” the donations it has generated with certain transactions (such as all those transactions made during a selected period of time) on the outcome of an event, such as a sporting event or television show. For example, for the week leading up to a large sporting event, the donation system may allow the user to opt into the wagering game. If the user opts in, any donations generated by the user&#39;s transactions with an affiliate would not be directly routed to a charity, but would instead be routed to the user&#39;s wager account. The user would then wager the amount of money in its wager account on the outcome of the sporting event. The amount in the wager account of all of the users who participate in the wager would then be pooled, and later split between the accounts of the users that win the wager, in accordance with the percentage that the user wagered as compared to other participating users, to be donated to those users&#39; selected charities as normal. 
         [0016]    For example, if ten people decide to wager on the outcome of the sporting event, each “wagering” $5 of donations earned during the week immediately preceding the sporting event, the total wager amount would be $50 (5$.times.10 participants). If half of the participants wagered that one team would win, while the other half wagered that the other team would win, the five participants who wagered correctly would each earn $10 ($50 pot/5 winners) to be donated to their charities of choice. The affiliates who actually donate the money still each donate the same amount. However, winning users get credit for double the donation to their selected charities, while the losing users do not get any credit for the donations they originally generated. The donations may alternatively be earned only within the venue of the event, and may only be wagered at that event. 
         [0017]    The donation system preferably includes a computer system comprising one or more processors and a memory where executable software is stored and executed by the one or more processors, where the one or more programs include instructions for various modules executed by a processor. For example, the system may include a user account module which is responsible for allowing user interaction with the user&#39;s account (such as selecting charities and donation percentages to the selected charities). An affiliate account module may be responsible for allowing the affiliate to interact with its account (such as selecting the percentage of each transaction to be donated, and/or selecting preferred charities). A transaction tracking module may be responsible for communicating with affiliate systems to receive information on transactions occurring between a user and the affiliate, and/or may be responsible for interacting with the user&#39;s computing device to receive a scanned or manually inputted code generated by the affiliate&#39;s computer system following a transaction. A donation tracking module may be responsible for identifying an account receivable in an amount of money to be received from an affiliate based on the amount of a transaction with a user and the affiliate-determined percentage. The donation tracking module may also be responsible for apportioning the money to be received from each affiliate to the appropriate user&#39;s account to be distributed to the user&#39;s selected charities based on the user-selected donation percentages. 
         [0018]    By tracking the transactions and the donations made, the donation system can provide reports to the user and/or charities and/or affiliates with the geographic location transactions which result in a donation to a selected charity. This allows charities to see where its user benefactors are physically shopping, thereby allowing the charities to target advertisements or commercials to those areas. Also, reports regarding the charities to which donations are being made based on transactions in a given geographic area may be available. This allows affiliates to see where users who shop in those locations are donating money, and allows the affiliates to best target its charity partnerships in given areas, allowing of donations made to a given 
         [0019]    These and other advantageous features of the present invention will be in part apparent and in part pointed out herein below. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0020]    For a better understanding of the present invention, reference may be made to the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0021]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a user directed donation system according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0022]      FIG. 2  is a flow chart of an example user directed donation method utilizing the system of  FIG. 1  according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0023]      FIG. 3  is a reproduction of a screen capture of a web interface as seen by a user of the system of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0024]      FIG. 4  is a reproduction of a screen capture of a web interface as seen by a user of the system of  FIG. 1 , who is participating in a group; 
           [0025]      FIG. 5  is a reproduction of a screen capture of a web interface as seen by an affiliate when creating a new campaign. 
           [0026]      FIG. 6  is a flow chart of an example user directed donation method in which wagering occurs, according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0027]      FIG. 7  is a reproduction of a screen capture of a web interface showing information relating to an affiliate as seen by a user. 
           [0028]      FIG. 8  is a reproduction of a screen capture of a web interface showing information relating to a charity as seen by a user. 
           [0029]      FIG. 9  is a screen capture of a web interface showing centers of influence. 
           [0030]      FIG. 10  is a reproduction of a screen capture of a mobile app interface showing location-specific data. 
           [0031]      FIG. 11  illustrates a flow chart of one embodiment of a web interface for allowing a user to create and manage its user account. 
           [0032]      FIG. 12  illustrates a flow chart of one embodiment of a web interface for allowing a user to select and edit charities and donation percentages. 
           [0033]      FIG. 13A  illustrates a flow chart of one embodiment of a transaction tracking and donation making procedure when using a mobile device. 
           [0034]      FIG. 13B  illustrates a flow chart of one embodiment of a transaction tracking and donation making procedure when using a laptop or desktop. 
           [0035]      FIG. 14  illustrates a flow chart of one embodiment of a web interface for group creation access. 
           [0036]      FIG. 15  illustrates flow chart of one embodiment of a web interface relating to user-selected locations and the options associated with same. 
           [0037]      FIG. 16  illustrates flow chart of one embodiment for allowing a user to create and modify social networking options. 
           [0038]      FIG. 17  illustrates a flow chart of one embodiment of integration with social networking which demonstrates such gamification. 
       
    
    
       [0039]    While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description presented herein are not intended to limit the invention to the particular embodiment disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION 
       [0040]    According to the embodiment(s) of the present invention, various views are illustrated in  FIGS. 1-10  and like reference numerals are being used consistently throughout to refer to like and corresponding parts of the invention for all of the various views and figures of the drawing. Also, please note that the first digit(s) of the reference number for a given item or part of the invention should correspond to the Fig. number in which the item or part is first identified. 
         [0041]    One embodiment of a user directed donations system  100  according to the present invention includes a user account module  105 , an affiliate account module  110 , a transaction tracking module  115 , a donation tracking module  120 , a tracking module  125 , and a social networking module  130 . Such modules are preferably executed by one or more processors based on instructions stored in an electronic memory, all included in a central computing system. The operation of system  100  will be discussed in terms of method  200  shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         [0042]    At step  205 , a user  10  creates and manages a user account via a user computing device  15  interacting with user account module  105  over a network.  FIG. 11  illustrates a flow chart of one embodiment for allowing a user to create and manage its user account, including integration with social networks such as FACEBOOK.®., TWITTER.®. (discussed in detail below) and GOOGLE+.®. User computing device  15  may be a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a smartphone, a PDA, a tablet or the like.  FIG. 12  illustrates a flow chart of one embodiment for allowing a user to select and edit charities and donation percentages. User account module allows the user to select one or more charities to receive donations, and allows the user to assign a donation percentage to be received by each selected charity. 
         [0043]    Similarly, at step  210 , an organization, such as a business, becomes an affiliate  20  by signing up with affiliate account module  110 . An affiliate&#39;s computer system  30  further communicates with the affiliate account module  110  to select an affiliate-determined percentage of each transaction which occurs with a registered user to be donated to that user&#39;s selected charities. The affiliate&#39;s computer system  30  may, like the user&#39;s computing device  15 , be any type of suitable of electronic device. Additionally, both the user  10  and the affiliate  20  may change its selections for all future transactions at any time. 
         [0044]    Once both the user  10  and affiliate  20  are signed up, the user  10  may choose to conduct a transaction with the affiliate at step  215 . Preferably, user  10  interacts with the affiliate sales system  20  at a point-of-sale, either directly (such as in a store) or via the user&#39;s computing device  15  (such as during an online purchase) to conduct the transaction. As payment during the transaction, the user utilizes a personal payment account, which is preferably any form of payment which may be used at substantially any business, and is not specific to a business or a group of commonly owned or associated businesses. For example, a personal payment account may include cash, check, credit card, debit card, etc., all of which are widely used at unrelated, unaffiliated businesses. However, a personal payment account does not include a store-specific gift card, a store-specific line of credit, etc., which may only be used at a single store or a group of commonly owned or associated businesses. It is important to note that the any user  10  may transact with any affiliate  20  with the personal payment account. System  100  and method  200  do not restrict the user  10  to which charities  40  it may donate to, or to companies from which it must do business (except insofar as the company must be signed on as an affiliate  20 , although any company may sign on as an affiliate  20  and therefore the user  10  is theoretically not restricted). 
         [0045]    Once the user  10  completes a transaction with the affiliate  20 , the transaction tracking module  115  receives transaction data regarding the transaction at step  220 . The transaction data may come from the affiliate  20  and/or the user  10 . In one embodiment, the user  10  may input a unique identifier into the affiliate&#39;s sales system  25  at the time of the transaction. For example, the user  10  may have an ID code which it manually enters into the affiliate&#39;s sales system  25 , or the user  10  may carry a physical card or digitally display a code which can be scanned by the affiliate&#39;s point of sale systems. Receiving the unique identifier causes the affiliate to flag the transaction as relating to system  100  and method  200 , and causes the affiliate computer system  30  to transmit the transaction data to the transaction tracking module  115 . 
         [0046]    Alternatively, rather than causing the affiliate computer system  30  to communicate with the transaction tracking module  115 , receiving the unique identifier may merely cause the affiliate&#39;s sales system  25  to provide the user  10  with a single-use transaction identifier. The single use transaction identifier may similarly take the form of an ID code or a scannable code (such as a QR code or barcode or other such code as is known in the art), and may be printed on the physical receipt given to the user  10  at point of sale, or may be digitally displayed on the digital receipt provided to the user  10  after an online transaction. The single-use transaction identifier preferably includes similar information as was discussed above as being transmitted to the transaction tracking module  115  from the affiliate computer system  30 , although additional information which identifies the affiliate itself may also be included. The user  10  preferably uses an app or other program (as will be discussed in detail below) to scan the code, such as by taking a photograph of it with a smartphone, or manually inputs the code via the user&#39;s personal computing device  15 . The single-use transaction identifier is preferably only good for one upload, so that it cannot be rescanned or reentered in an attempt to generate inappropriate duplicate donations. 
         [0047]    Either mechanism for transmitting data to the transaction tracking module  115  at step  220  is acceptable, and both may occur simultaneously. Where both the user  10  and the affiliate  20  report the transaction to the transaction tracking module  115 , the transaction tracking module checks to make sure the dual reports match. Where only the user  10  reports the transaction, the transaction tracking module  115  preferably reconciles with the affiliate computer system  30  periodically to ensure that all reported transactions were similarly recorded by the affiliate  20 . 
         [0048]    At step  225 , donation tracking module  120  identifies an account receivable in an amount of money to be received from the affiliate  20 . This amount of money may have been pre-calculated by the affiliate  20  prior to transmission of the transaction data at step  220 . However, where the full transaction amount is transmitted to the transaction tracking module  115  rather than just the donation amount, donation tracking module  120  calculates the appropriate donation amount based on the transaction amount and the affiliate-determined percentage. Other factors may also be taken into account, such as whether the donation is being made to a preferred charity, as will be discussed in detail below. The amount of money of the account receivable is then apportioned to the user&#39;s account to be donated to each of the user&#39;s selected charities based on the user&#39;s selected donation percentages at step  230 , and is donated to the user&#39;s chosen charities accordingly at step  235 . At step  240 , the donation tracking module  120  communicates with the affiliate account module  110  and the user account module  105  to update the user and affiliate accounts with the information regarding the donation(s).  FIG. 13A  illustrates a flow chart of one embodiment of the above discussed transaction tracking and donation making procedure via a smartphone, tablet or other mobile device, while  FIG. 13B  illustrates a flow chart of one embodiment of the above discussed transaction tracking and donation making procedure via a laptop or desktop computer. It is noted that the order of steps including making donations and receiving moneys from affiliates is not important. Money may be donated and then recouped from affiliates, or the affiliates may pay into the system before donations are made. 
         [0049]      FIG. 3  illustrates a reproduction of a screenshot of an example web interface  300  generated by the user account module  105  for user  10 . As shown, the web interface lists user information  305 , including the user&#39;s name or screen name, location, etc. Also shown are the user&#39;s selected charities  310 . The user may choose to add new charities or replace previously chosen charities at any time for all future transactions. The user may select the percentage of each donation which is to be apportioned to each charity with slider bar  315 , although it is understood that other methods of setting percentages are contemplated. The user&#39;s web interface may also show the total money  320  that the user has generated for its charities, and/or a breakdown of how much has been given to individual charities. In some embodiments, generating donations or otherwise participating in games or other events may also generate “experience points.” As a user  10  gains experience, the user&#39;s level progresses. Certain options or awards may be available to a user  10  only up reaching a certain level. It is noted that a web interface for an affiliate  20 , as generated by affiliate account module  110 , may include many of the same features. However, rather than selecting donation percentages for charities, an affiliate&#39;s web interface preferably allows it to set its affiliate-determined percentage. 
         [0050]      FIG. 4  illustrates a reproduction of a screenshot of an example group web interface  400  generated by the user account module  105  for a user  10  who is participating in a group. The system  100  allows for multiple users  10  to team up and track all of the donations made by group members to selected charities. The group web interface  400  lists the group information  405 , which may include the name of the group, the number and/or names of users  10  in the group, the charity or charities to which the group is donating, etc. As with the user&#39;s web interface  300 , the group web interface  400  may also display the total donations  410  amassed by group members for the group&#39;s charities. However, unlike the user&#39;s web interface  300 , the group web interface may also list rivals  415  against which the group is competing. When setting up a group, the group may challenge other existing groups, or may leave an open challenge for other groups. Alternatively, a group may enter a challenge set up by another group, or by a charity  40  or by an affiliate  20 . Thus, the system  100  provides for the gamification of donations. Challenges may occur via social network. Users  10  and groups of users  10  may compete against others to generate donations to charities.  FIG. 14  illustrates a flow chart of one embodiment of a group-oriented web interface. 
         [0051]      FIG. 5  illustrates a reproduction of a screenshot of an example affiliate campaign interface  500  generated by the affiliate account module  110  for an affiliate  20  wishing to create a new campaign. It is noted that a group or a charity  40  may also set up a campaign via a similar interface. As can be seen, affiliate campaign interface  500  includes a charity selection portion  505  which allows the affiliate  20  to select one or more charities  40  which it wishes to include in the campaign, as well as an incentive addition portion  510  which allows the affiliate  20  to add some sort of a prize to the campaign. An affiliate  20  may therefore set up a campaign and allow users or groups to compete to see who can generate the most donations for the selected charity or charities based on transactions made with that affiliate  20  (or other selected affiliates), and provide a prize to the winner. The affiliate  20  may set various targeting requirements  515  for the campaign, such as gender, age range, location, etc., to better target its campaign to its desired demographic. Similarly, the affiliate may set date/time restrictions  520  on the campaign. Thus, affiliates  20  may use gamification and targeting of system  100  to reach desired demographics in desired locations. Campaigns which support certain charities are generally less problematic to consumers who dislike those charities, because the consumer can ensure that donations it generates are not given to the charities they dislike. 
         [0052]    It is also noted that an affiliate  20  may choose to make the affiliate-determined percentage vary based on many factors. For example, a restaurant affiliate wishing to increase its sales between the lunch and dinner rushes may choose to increase the affiliate-determined percentage during its off hours. Similarly, a large chain retailer may choose to increase its affiliate-determined percentage at stores trying to generate more business. An affiliate  20  may also decide to make certain charities “preferred” charities, and may choose to increase the affiliate-determined percentage for any donations made to those charities. For example, the affiliate  20  may determine that a first charity is a preferred charity, and will therefore donate 4% of a given transaction rather than its standard 2% if the donation is routed to that charity. If a user  10  selects both the first and second charities and allocates its donations 75/25 respectively, and then spends $100 with the affiliate  20 , the affiliate  20  will donate $0.50 to the second charity ($100.times.0.02.times.0.25), but the first charity will receive $3 ($100.times.0.04.times.0.75). Thus, the affiliate  20  receives the benefit of partnering with one or more charities  40  by appealing to those users  10  who also support the preferred charities. However, individuals who do not support those charities are not as dissuaded from doing business with the affiliate, because those users can still ensure that the donations generated from their transactions with the affiliate are not routed to the affiliate&#39;s preferred charities. 
         [0053]    In another embodiment, as shown by the method  600  in the flowchart of  FIG. 6 , the amount of money in an account receivable from an affiliate  20  may be used to wager on the outcome of an event. At step  605 , users  10  may choose to wager a portion of future donations created by their respective transactions over a period of time. Each user  10  may select a wagering percentage which allocates up to 100% of newly created donation amounts to its wager(s), preferably in the same way users  10  select donation percentages. At step  610 , those users  10  then conduct transactions with affiliates  20  as normal, and the system  100  identifies accounts receivable of amounts of money for each such transaction. However, rather than apportioning those funds to the users&#39; respective accounts for donation, the funds are apportioned between the users&#39; respective accounts and the users&#39; respective wagering accounts based on the wagering percentages selected. Thus, users  10  can amass funds to be wagered in wagering accounts. It is noted that separate wagering accounts may be set up, or system  100  may maintain all wagering and non-wagering funds in a single account, and simply tracking the total of said wagering funds. 
         [0054]    At step  615 , users  10  who have chosen to make a wager can make such wager on the outcome of an event. For example, users  10  may wager on the winner of a sporting event. Users  10  may choose to wager all or just a portion of the funds in their respective wager accounts. After the event occurs, at step  620  the wagered funds are deducted from the wager accounts of those users  10  who incorrectly guessed the outcome of the event. The deducted funds is then pooled and split between the users  10  who correctly guessed the outcome of the event. The losing users&#39; wagered funds are preferably split among the winning users  10  in percentages which correspond to the amounts wagered by the winning users  10 . At step  625 , the funds won by the winning users  10  is apportioned to the winning users&#39; respective accounts, and at step  630 , the donation tracking module donates the won funds appropriately as discussed above. The donation tracking module  120  or another module may be responsible for the wagering procedure discussed above. 
         [0055]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , system  100  may also include a tracking module  125  which tracks information regarding transactions between users  10  and affiliates  20 , and regarding donations made to various charities  40 . Tracking module  125  may track information including: the geographic location of qualifying transactions by a user  10 ; the geographic location of all qualifying transactions with an affiliate  20 ; the geographic location of all qualifying transactions which result in a donation to a charity  40 ; the demographics of all users  10  who conduct transactions with an affiliate  20 ; the demographics of all users  10  who donate to a charity  40 ; total amount donated by an affiliate  20  to one or more charities  40 , or caused to be donated to one or more charities  40  by a user  10 . Additionally, tracking module  125  may track temporally, such as donations as a function of time, and the types of goods/services which are offered by affiliates with which users  10  conduct transactions. Additionally, tracking module  125  may track the type of personal payment account used by users  10  during transactions with affiliates  20 . 
         [0056]    For example,  FIG. 7  illustrates a reproduction of a screenshot of an example web interface  700  generated by the user account module  105  for a user  10  who is reviewing statistics of an affiliate  20 . As can be seen, the interface  700  may display the affiliate&#39;s general information  705 , such as the name, address and a logo of the affiliate  20 . A running total of funds donated  710  by the affiliate  20  through system  100  is shown, as well as users top users  715  who have generated the most in donations via the affiliate  20 , as tracked by the tracking module  125 . The web interface  700  may also display current campaigns  720  in which the affiliate is participating.  FIG. 8  illustrates a similar web interface  800  generated by the user account module  105  for a user  10  who is reviewing statistics of a charity  40 . Web interface  800  includes similar information, such as the charity&#39;s general information  805 , and a running total of funds donated  810  to the charity  40  through system  100 . The web interface also shows top users  815  who have generated the most in donations to the charity  40 , as tracked by the tracking module  125 . The web interface  800  may also display current campaigns  820  in which benefit the charity  40 . 
         [0057]    Information which is tracked by tracking module  125  may also be displayed graphically rather than numerically, as shown in  FIG. 9 .  FIG. 9  is a screen capture of a web interface showing centers of influence via a heat map  900 . Specific transaction locations  905  are shown by flags. The heat map  900  illustrates different influence intensities by different colors  910 ,  915 ,  920  shaded on the map. As can be seen, color  910  is shown as being substantially centered on a majority of the transactions  905 , which indicate that the highest level of influence has been centered on those areas. Colors  915  and  920  signify lower levels of influence. Preferably, influence is affected not only by the number of transactions in an area, but also by the value of those transactions. Clicking on a map pin  905  may direct the user to a maps-based application to provide retail affiliate contact info and directions, or may provide the affiliate with marketing/brand support. As shown in  FIG. 9 , influence specifically relates to transactions made between users  10  and affiliates  20  which create donations. However, similar influence heat maps may be created which are specific to a user  10 , to a group of users, to an affiliate  20  or to a charity  40 .  FIG. 15  illustrates flow chart of one embodiment of a web interface relating to user-selected locations and the options associated with same, such as the above discussed heat maps. 
         [0058]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , system  100  may also include a social networking module  130  which communicates with one or more of the various social networks commonly known. For example, a user  10  may give system  100  permission to make posts via the user&#39;s social networking account by inputting their username and password to the social networking account.  FIG. 16  illustrates flow chart of one embodiment for allowing a user to create and modify social networking options. The social networking module  130  may then post a status update or a message via that social network that the user  10  has generated a donation when such a donation is generated. Similarly, the social networking module  130  may allow the user  10  to promote a campaign or a charity, or challenge another user  10  or group of users  10  via a social network. As noted above, this integration with social networks increases the possibilities for gamification.  FIG. 17  illustrates a flow chart of one embodiment of integration with social networking which demonstrates such gamification. 
         [0059]    Tracking module  125  may also track social networking related information, such as the number of status updates or posts made by or regarding system  100 , the number of times a user  10  has “checked in” at an affiliate location via system  100  or the demographics of such users, the number of times a user  10  has liked or recommended a status update relating to system  100  or the demographics of such users, etc. Tracking module  125  may track information including: the geographic location of qualifying transactions by a user  10 ; the geographic location of all qualifying transactions with an affiliate  20 ; the geographic location of all qualifying transactions which result in a donation to a charity  40 ; the demographics of all users  10  who conduct transactions with an affiliate  20 ; the demographics of all users  10  who donate to a charity  40 ; total amount donated by an affiliate  20  to one or more charities  40 , or caused to be donated to one or more charities  40  by a user  10 . 
         [0060]    As noted above, user  10  may interact with the user account module  105  via a mobile computing device such as a smartphone, PDA or tablet  15  running a mobile application. Preferably, a mobile app will allow a user  10  to do substantially the same things as the web interfaces discussed above, with additional location specific features. For example,  FIG. 10  illustrates mobile app feature which allows a user to find nearby campaigns. A button  1005  allows the user  10  to request nearby campaigns, and a list of nearby campaigns  1010  is then displayed. The location of nearby affiliates  20  and/or affiliates involved in specific campaigns may be displayed to the user  10  on a map. The user  10  may be able to access tracked information relating to specific nearby affiliates  20  and/or transactions as well. 
         [0061]    The various web and mobile app interface examples and flowcharts discussed above illustrate a system and method for allowing user-directed donation from companies to charities. A user of the present invention may choose any of the above implementations, or an equivalent thereof, depending upon the desired application. In this regard, it is recognized that various forms of the above interfaces and systems could be utilized without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
         [0062]    As is evident from the foregoing description, certain aspects of the present invention are not limited by the particular details of the examples illustrated herein, and it is therefore contemplated that other modifications and applications, or equivalents thereof, will occur to those skilled in the art. It is accordingly intended that the claims shall cover all such modifications and applications that do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Additionally, it is accordingly intended that the claims shall cover all such modifications and applications that do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present implementation, and the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. 
         [0063]    Certain systems, apparatus, applications or processes are described herein as including a number of modules. A module may be a unit of distinct functionality that may be presented in software, hardware, or combinations thereof. When the functionality of a module is performed in any part through software, the module includes a computer-readable medium. The modules may be regarded as being communicatively coupled. The inventive subject matter may be represented in a variety of different implementations of which there are many possible permutations. 
         [0064]    The methods described herein do not have to be executed in the order described, or in any particular order. Moreover, various activities described with respect to the methods identified herein can be executed in serial or parallel fashion. In the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter may lie in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment. 
         [0065]    In an example embodiment, a computer system may operate as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the computer system may operate in the capacity of a server or a client machine in server-client network environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine may be a server computer, a client computer, a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine or computing device. Further, while only a single machine is often illustrated, the term “computer system” or “computing device” shall also be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. 
         [0066]    A computer system and/or computing device can include a processor (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU) a graphics processing unit (GPU) or both), a main memory and a static memory, which communicate with each other via a bus. The computer system may further include a video/graphical display unit (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). A computer system may also include an alphanumeric input device (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control device (e.g., a mouse), a drive unit, a signal generation device (e.g., a speaker) and a network interface device. 
         [0067]    One or more sets of instructions (e.g., software) embodying any one or more of the methodologies or systems described herein is envisioned. The software may reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory and/or within the processor during execution thereof by the computer system, the main memory and the processor also constituting computer-readable media. The software may further be transmitted or received over a network via the network interface device. 
         [0068]    The term “computer-readable medium” should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term “computer-readable medium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing or encoding a set of instructions for execution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present implementation. The term “computer-readable medium” shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, and optical media, and magnetic media. 
         [0069]    Other aspects, objects and advantages of the present invention can be obtained from a study of the drawings, the disclosure and the appended claims.