Patent Publication Number: US-2019172066-A1

Title: Systems and Methods for Performing Network-Based Transactions

Description:
FIELD 
     The present disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for use in facilitating network-based transactions between entities. 
     BACKGROUND 
     This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art. 
     People are known to provide donations to people that are less fortunate and/or in need. In general, donations may be provided through payments to charitable organizations, which, in turn, distribute, the donations (or goods and/or services purchased with the donations) to those associated with a stated purpose of the charitable organizations. For example, emergency-need charitable organizations (e.g., the American Red Cross™ organization, etc.) are known to accept donations and then use the donations to provide basic necessities in and/or around disaster areas. In another example, donation recipients are also known to solicit donations through websites (e.g., through the GoFundMe™ website, etc.), whereby the would-be donation recipients are able to tell their story and solicit funds from people associated with the websites (e.g., that have access to the websites, etc.). Other types of donation recipients and/or charitable organizations are known to solicit, accept, and/or deliver donations, in various forms and in various ways, to those in need, again, generally in accordance with stated purposes of the recipients and/or corresponding charitable organizations. 
    
    
     
       DRAWINGS 
       The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an exemplary system of the present disclosure suitable for use in facilitating donation transactions between donors and donation recipients; 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a computing device that may be used in the exemplary system of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIGS. 3-12  are exemplary interfaces that may be displayed to a user in connection with the system of  FIG. 1  for facilitating donation transactions between donors and donation recipients; and 
         FIG. 13  is an exemplary method, which may be implemented in connection with the system of  FIG. 1  and in which the exemplar interfaces of  FIGS. 3-12  may be used, for facilitating a donation transaction by a donor to a donation recipient. 
     
    
    
     Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Exemplary embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. The description and specific examples included herein are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. 
     Donations may be provided to donation recipients, directly and/or indirectly, through charitable organizations. Often, the donations are directed to a particular purpose, which may include a cause or a discrete event (e.g., a natural disaster, etc.). Uniquely, the systems and methods herein permit donation recipients and/or charitable organizations to post recipient profiles and to solicit donations, and permit donors to allocate and/or donate monies to the donation recipients, as desired, based on the profiles, etc. The systems and methods herein may also permit donors to donate to particular events (e.g., natural disasters, etc.) without choosing specific recipients, whereby the donations may then be randomly distributed amongst all active recipient profiles. Consistent with the description herein, a donation platform is provided, which is accessible to donation recipients and donors. The donation recipients (and/or associated organizations) are able to provide profiles, which are then viewable by donors. The donors, in turn, may donate monies to the donation recipients (or more broadly to a particular event with which various donation recipients are associated), through the platform, based on the profiles and, in doing so, build their own donor profiles. The donor profiles include not only donations by the donors, but also links to other donors and metrics relating to the breadth of the donations provided by the donors and/or their linked donors (e.g., thereby identifying and/or indicating Circles of Influence for the donors, etc.). The donations may then be distributed directly to payment accounts (e.g., prepaid accounts, etc.) associated with the donation recipients, as prepaid cards or via mobile payment applications, or they may be allotted as merchant credit at particular merchants or as credits with various social programs (e.g., food stamps, etc.), etc. In this manner, the donations are provided directly to donation recipients, whereby charitable organizations may be bypassed, to an extent, and donors may better understand where their donations are directed. Accordingly, the systems and methods herein provide gamification features to the donation process, such that the donors can directly identify donation recipients, track donations to such recipients, identify particular needs for the recipients (based on their profiles), compete with and/or challenge other donors, and participate in donations with other donors. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates an exemplary system  100  in which one or more aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented. Although the system  100  is presented in one arrangement, other embodiments may include the parts of the system  100  (or other parts) arranged otherwise depending on, for example, distribution of donation information (including funds) to donors and/or recipients, processing of payment account transactions, etc. 
     The system  100  generally includes a donor issuer  102 , which issues an account to each of multiple donors  104   a - b , a payment network  106 , and a recipient issuer  108 , which issues payment accounts associated with each of multiple donation recipients  110   a - e , each of which is coupled to, and is in communication with (and/or includes access to), network  112 . The network  112  may include, without limitation, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN) (e.g., the Internet, etc.), a mobile network, a virtual network, and/or another suitable public and/or private network capable of supporting communication among two or more of the parts or users illustrated in  FIG. 1 , or any combination thereof. For example, network  112  may include multiple different networks, such as a private payment transaction network made accessible by the payment network  106  to the issuers  102 ,  108  to facilitate network-based transactions therebetween and, separately, a public network (e.g., the Internet, etc.) through which the donors  104   a - b  may facilitate donations (broadly, a network-based transaction) to the donation recipients  110   a - e , as described herein. 
     As described, each of the donors  104   a - b  in the system  100  is associated with an account issued by the donor issuer  102  (e.g., a checking account, a prepaid account, a credit account, a debit account, etc.). Among other things, the accounts can be used by the donors  104   a - b  to fund donations to one or more of the donation recipients  110   a - e . The donation recipients  110   a - e  may include, for example, individuals, groups of individuals, charitable organizations or entities, relief funds or events, etc. In addition in the illustrated system  100 , the donors  104   a - b  are associated with communication devices  114 ,  116  (e.g., smartphones, tablets, etc.), each coupled to (and in communication with) the network  112  to operate as described herein. Similarly, the donation recipients  110   a ,  110   c  are associated with communication devices  118 ,  120 , each coupled to (and in communication with) the network  112  to operate as described herein. While the donation recipients  110   b ,  110   d ,  110   e  are not illustrated as associated with communication devices in the system  100 , it should be appreciated that one or more of such donation recipients  110   b ,  110   d  may include a communication device in other embodiments. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates exemplary computing device  200  used in the system  100 . The computing device  200  may include, for example, one or more servers, workstations, personal computers, laptops, tablets, smartphones, PDAs, etc. In addition, the computing device  200  may include a single computing device, or it may include multiple computing devices located in close proximity or distributed over a geographic region, so long as the computing devices are configured to function as described herein. In the system  100 , the donor issuer  102 , the payment network  106 , and the recipient issuer  108  are each illustrated as incorporating a computing device  200 , coupled to the network  112 . In addition, each of the communication devices  114 - 120  may be considered a computing device generally consistent with computing device  200 . That said, the system  100  should not be considered to be limited to the computing device  200 , as described below, as different computing devices and/or arrangements of computing devices may be used. In addition, different components and/or arrangements of components may be used in other computing devices in other embodiments. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the exemplary computing device  200  includes a processor  202  and a memory  204  coupled to (and in communication with) the processor  202 . The processor  202  may include one or more processing units (e.g., in a multi-core configuration, etc.). For example, the processor  202  may include, without limitation, a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) processor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), a gate array, and/or any other circuit or processor capable of the operations described herein. 
     The memory  204 , as described herein, is one or more devices that permit data, instructions, etc., to be stored therein and retrieved therefrom. The memory  204  may include one or more computer-readable storage media, such as, without limitation, dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), read only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), solid state devices, flash drives, CD-ROMs, thumb drives, floppy disks, tapes, hard disks, and/or any other type of volatile or nonvolatile physical or tangible computer-readable media. The memory  204  may be configured to store, without limitation, donor profiles, donation recipient profiles, transaction data, and/or other types of data (and/or data structures) suitable for use as described herein. Furthermore, in various embodiments, computer-executable instructions may be stored in the memory  204  for execution by the processor  202  to cause the processor  202  to perform one or more of the functions described herein, such that the memory  204  is a physical, tangible, and non-transitory computer readable storage media. Such instructions often improve the efficiencies and/or performance of the processor  202  that is performing one or more of the various operations herein. 
     In the exemplary embodiment, the computing device  200  also includes a presentation unit  206  that is coupled to (and that is in communication with) the processor  202  (however, it should be appreciated that the computing device  200  could include output devices other than the presentation unit  206 , etc.). The presentation unit  206  outputs information (e.g., charity information, donor preferences, donation summaries, donation recipient information, other donation data, etc.), visually, for example, to a user of the computing device  200  such as, for example, one or more of donors  104   a - b , one or more of donation recipients  110   a ,  110   c , users associated with the donation issuer  102 , users associated with the recipient issuer  108 , etc. Various interfaces (e.g., as defined by network-based applications and/or conventional applications, etc.) may be displayed at computing device  200 , and in particular at presentation unit  206 , to display and/or solicit certain information, as described herein, for example, and displayed at the presentation unit  206 . The presentation unit  206  may include, without limitation, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light-emitting diode (LED) display, an organic LED (OLED) display, an “electronic ink” display, speakers, etc. In some embodiments, the presentation unit  206  may include multiple devices. 
     In addition, the computing device  200  includes an input device  208  that receives inputs from the user (i.e., user inputs) such as, for example, login information from one or more of the donors  104   a - b  to access a donation platform herein to facilitate donations, donation amounts, donation preferences, etc. The input device  208  is coupled to (and is in communication with) the processor  202  and may include, for example, one or more of a keyboard, a pointing device, a mouse, a stylus, a card reader, a camera, a touch sensitive panel (e.g., a touch pad or a touch screen, etc.), and/or other suitable input device. Further, in various exemplary embodiments, a touch screen may behave as both the presentation unit  206  and the input device  208 . 
     Further, the illustrated computing device  200  also includes a network interface  210  coupled to (and in communication with) the processor  202  and the memory  204 . The network interface  210  may include, without limitation, a wired network adapter, a wireless network adapter (e.g., a Wi-Fi adapter, a Bluetooth® adapter, etc.), a mobile network adapter, or other device capable of communicating to one or more different networks, including the network  112 . In some exemplary embodiments, the computing device  200  may include the processor  202  and one or more network interfaces (including the network interface  210 ) incorporated into or with the processor  202 . 
     Referring again to  FIG. 1 , the system  100  includes a donation platform  122 , which is specifically configured to perform one or more of the operations described herein. In connection therewith, the donation platform  122  may be considered a computing device (and/or considered implemented in a computing device) consistent with computing device  200 , and specifically configured as described herein. In general, the donation platform  122  is independent of/from the payment network  106  and/or the issuers  102 ,  108 . That said, the donation platform  122  may be integrated into the payment network  106  and/or the issuers  102 ,  108 , in whole, or in part, in other embodiments, as indicated by the dotted lines in  FIG. 1 . In at least one embodiment, the donation platform  122  may also (or alternatively) be included in the donation recipient  110   a  (or one or more of the donation recipients  110   d ,  110   e ), where the donation recipient  110   a  (and the donation recipients  110   d ,  110   e ) is (are) a charitable or other type of organization, or group, or event, etc. 
     In one aspect of the present disclosure, the donation platform  122  is configured to register the donors  104   a - b  and each of donation recipients  110   a - e  thereto. 
     For example, when the donors  104   a - b  desire to provide a donation as described herein, they interact with the donation platform  122  to facilitate such registration. In so doing, the donors  104   a - b  may initially access a website provided by and/or associated with the donation platform  122  (or, potentially, a network-based application supported by one of the illustrated parts of the system  100  (e.g., the payment network  106 , etc.) or other parts not shown herein; etc.), via the corresponding communication devices  114 ,  116  or other accessible computing device  200 . The donors  104   a - b  then interact with the donation platform  122 , again via their respective communication devices  114 ,  116  (or other computing device  200 ) and network  112 . As part of the interaction, the donation platform  122  is configured to solicit profile information from the donors  104   a - b , such as, for example, name, address, contact information, account credentials for the account(s) issued by the issuer  102  and from which donations are to be funded, etc. In addition, the donation platform  122  may solicit donation preferences from the donors  104   a - b  for the profiles (e.g., particular regions for aid; particular aid categories such as food, medicine, etc.; particular types of aid such as flood relief, etc.; etc.), In response to receipt of the information, the donation platform  122 , generally, is configured to register the donors  104   a - b , whereby profiles for the donors  104   a - b  are created and stored in a data structure  124  included in and/or associated with the donation platform  122 . Often, in various embodiments, in connection with the registration, the donation platform  122  is configured to generate donation accounts and provide access credentials to the donors  104   a - b  (e.g., login credentials, passwords, PINs, etc.) thereto, whereby the donors  104   a - b  are able to subsequently access their accounts/profiles at the donation platform  122  and instruct the donation platform  122  to operate as described herein (e.g., provide donations to one or more of the donation recipients  110   a - e , view donation histories, etc.). 
     Likewise, when the donation recipients  110   a - e  (be it a charitable/relief organization, a partner organization, an individual, etc.) desire to receive donations as described herein, the donation recipients  110   a - e  interact with the donation platform  122  to facilitate registration with the donation platform  122 . In so doing, the donation recipients  110   a - e  may initially access the website provided by and/or associated with the donation platform  122 , via their corresponding communication devices (e.g., communication devices  118 ,  120 ; etc.) or other available/accessible computing device  200 . The donation recipients  110   a - e  then interact with the donation platform  122 , again via their respective communication devices (or other available computing device  200 ) and network  112 . As part of the interaction, the donation platform  122  is configured to solicit information related to the donation recipients  110   a - e , such as, for example, name, address, contact information, descriptions or narratives of the needs associated with the donation recipients  110   a - e , etc. In response to receipt of the information, the donation platform  122 , generally, is configured to register the donation recipients  110   a - e , whereby profiles for the donation recipients  110   a - e  are generated and stored in the data structure  124  included in and/or associated with the donation platform  122 . 
     In addition, in connection with registering the donation recipients  110   a - e , the donation platform  122  is configured to associate a payment account (or multiple payment accounts) with each of the registered donation recipients  110   a - e  (to receive donation funds herein). The payment accounts may include credit accounts, prepaid accounts, savings accounts, etc. Specifically, for example, for each of the donation recipients  110   a - e , the donation platform  122  is configured to select a payment account (or multiple payment accounts), from a series of un-associated payment accounts issued by the recipient issuer  108 , and to associate each of the payment account(s) with a particular one of the donation recipients  110   a - e . The payment account(s) and, more specifically, credentials associated with the payment account(s), is/are then appended to and/or included in the profile for the particular one of the donation recipients  110   a - e . Each of the donation recipients  110   a - e  is then associated with a payment account in this manner for receiving donation funds, as described herein. With that said, it is contemplated that in some cases (e.g., in connection with donation recipients in very rural areas, etc.) receipt of the payment accounts by some donation recipients may be a first form of identification for the recipients. 
     What&#39;s more, in some implementations of the present disclosure, one or more of the donation recipients  110   a - e  (e.g., donation recipient  110   a , donation recipient  110   d , etc.) may include a partner organization (e.g., the World Food Program, etc.) that may be configured to register its services through the donation platform  122 , thereby providing a storefront for other aid recipients to use their donation benefits through prepaid cards or directly as a store credit, etc. In so doing, the partner organization may be able to offer volume discounts for its services as it may already be in a given disaster area providing relief. 
     With that said,  FIG. 3  illustrates an exemplary registration interface  300  that may be displayed to the donors  104   a - b  and donation recipients  110   a - e , upon accessing the website associated with the donation platform  122 , to facilitate registration. As shown, the registration interface  300  includes multiple options  302 - 308  for registering donors (e.g., donors  104   a - b , etc.), individual donation recipients (e.g., donation recipients  110   b - c , etc.), charitable organizations (e.g., donation recipients  110   a ,  110   d , etc.), and partner/affiliate organizations (e.g., donation recipient  110   e , etc.). As such, to ultimately register with the donation platform  122 , the donors  104   a - b  and donation recipients  110   a - e  select the appropriate one of the options  302 - 308  and proceed to register with the donation platform  122  as described herein. 
     In addition,  FIGS. 4-7  then illustrate multiple interfaces  400 - 700  that may be displayed to the donors  104   a - b  and donation recipients  110   a - e , once registered, upon accessing the donation platform  122 . For example,  FIG. 4  illustrates an exemplary donor profile interface  400 , which may be displayed to the donor  104   a  at his/her communication device  114 , by the donation platform  122 , once the donor  104   a  is registered and upon the donor  104   a  accessing the donation platform  122 . In connection therewith, the donation platform  122  generally displays a network environment to the donor  104   a  via the interface  400 . The illustrated interface  400  generally includes links  402 ,  404  for the donor  104   a  to access his/her pending donations and donation history, respectively, and a map  406  illustrating where donations by the donor  104   a  have caused an impact. In connection therewith, the interface  400  also includes an indication  408  of a number of people impacted by donations from the donor  104   a  (i.e., 2064 people). The interface  400  further includes a map  410  of donation recipients  110   a - e  needing assistance, and a link  412  for the donor  104   a  to facilitate a search to identify particular ones of the donation recipients needing assistance. Moreover, the interface  400  includes a link  414  for the donor  104   a  to communicate with prior donation recipients, and links  416  for the donor  104   a  to connect with other donors as part of his/her Circle of Influence (as described herein). 
       FIG. 5  illustrates an exemplary donation recipient profile interface  500 , which may be displayed to the donation recipient  110   c , for example, as an individual donation recipient, (at a computing device associated therewith (e.g., at communication device  120 , etc.)), once the donation recipient  110   c  is registered and upon the donation recipient  110   c  accessing the donation platform  122 . As shown, the interface  500  includes fields  502 - 508  to allow the donation recipient  110   c  to provide a reason or need (or testimonial) for the given donation, and to provide various amounts associated with the need (e.g., a one-time amount of $10,000 is needed, and the donation recipient  110   c  has received $6,852.94 toward the one-time amount, etc.). The interface  500  also includes links  510 - 514  to allow the donation recipient  110   c  to manage his/her prepaid account to which donations will be applied, to allow the donation recipient  110   c  to use benefits at a partner site, and to allow the donation recipient  110   c  to communicate with donors to share/update progress, etc. 
       FIG. 6  illustrates another exemplary donation recipient profile interface  600 , which may be displayed to the donation recipient  110   a , for example, as a charitable organization, (at a computing device associated therewith (e.g., a communication device  118 , etc.)), once the donation recipient  110   a  is registered and upon the donation recipient  110   a  accessing the donation platform  122 . As shown, the interface  600  includes links  602 - 606  to allow the donation recipient  110   a  to register their services with the donation platform  122 , to manage recipients of donations therethrough, and to search for donors to match with their recipients. The interface  600  also includes a map  608  illustrating where the donation recipient  110   a  is operating (and providing donations), and additional links  610  to connect with other donation recipients and/or donors as part of the donation recipient&#39;s Circle of Influence (as described herein). Further, the interface  600  includes options  612 - 616  to register recipients on their behalf, to manage recipient accounts on their behalf, and to post needs to the donation platform  122 . In connection therewith, the interface  600  also includes an indication  618  of a number of people impacted by donations facilitated through the donation recipient  110   a  (i.e., 145,036 people). 
     And,  FIG. 7  illustrates still another exemplary donation recipient profile interface  700 , which may be displayed to the donation recipient  110   e , for example, as a partner/affiliate organization, (at a computing device associated therewith), once the donation recipient  110   e  is registered and upon the donation recipient  110   e  accessing the donation platform  122 . As shown, the interface  700  includes links  702 - 704  to allow the donation recipient  110   e  to register their services with the donation platform  122  and to promote their services via social media. The interface  700  also includes a map  706  illustrating where the donation recipient  110   e  is operating (and providing donations), and an additional link  708  that allows the donation recipient  110   e  to search for donors and recipients for matching. In connection therewith, the interface  700  also includes an indication  710  of a number of people impacted by the activities provided through the donation recipient  110   e  (i.e., 52,326 people). 
     It should be appreciated that the interfaces  300 - 700  described above and illustrated in  FIGS. 3-7  are exemplary in nature and do not limit the scope of the present disclosure. As such, it should also be appreciated that various other interfaces, with similar or different content, may be used in other embodiments. 
     With reference again to  FIG. 1 , in another aspect of the present disclosure, the donation platform  122  is configured to provide a network environment to the donors  104   a - b  (e.g., via the website and upon the donors  104   a - b  accessing their donation accounts as generally shown in the exemplary interfaces  300 - 700  of  FIGS. 3-7 , etc.), in which the donors  104   a - b  are able to view the donation recipient profiles associated with the donation recipients  110   a - e  and potentially communicate with the donation recipients  110   a - e  (e.g., via a message board at the donation platform  122  such as included in message interface  800  in  FIG. 8 , etc.). In connection therewith, for example, the donors  104   a - b  are able to view the descriptions or narratives of the needs associated with the donation recipients  110   a - e  (as included in the donation recipient profiles) and/or potential disasters they are supporting, which in turn may entice and/or motivate the donors  104   a - b  to give/donate to one or more of the different donation recipients  110   a - e .  FIG. 9 , for example, illustrates an exemplary interface  900  that may be displayed to the donor  104   a  to show potential donation recipients  902 - 906  (e.g., upon selection of link  412  to search for donation recipients in the donor profile interface  400 , etc.). As part of identifying the potential donation recipients  902 - 906 , the interface  900  also includes options  908  for sorting and filtering the listing of potential donation recipients, whereby the donor  104   a  is able to tailor his/her donation criteria. Then, when desired, the donor  104   a  may select one or more of the potential donation recipients  902 - 906  at the interface  900  and initiate a donation transaction (or multiple donation transactions) as described hereinafter. It should again be appreciated that the interfaces  800 ,  900  described above and illustrated in  FIGS. 8 and 9  are exemplary in nature and do not limit the scope of the present disclosure, as various other interfaces, with similar or different content, may be used in other embodiments. 
     Additionally, via the network environment, the donation platform  122  is configured to receive donation requests from the donors  104   a - b  for one or more selected donation recipients  110   a - e . The requests generally include indications of the particular ones of the donation recipients  110   a - e  to which donations are to be directed, amounts of such donations, one-time indicators or recurring indicators for such donations, payment accounts to be used to perform/fund such donations (e.g., when multiple payment accounts are registered/available through donors&#39; profiles, etc.), etc. With that said, in connection with a recurring donation, the donation platform  122  may be configured to solicit, in addition to a donation amount, an interval for the recurring donation, a start date, and an end date (if any), etc. It should be appreciated that the donation transaction, for a recurring donation, will be substantially consistent with the description below, yet initiated automatically as specified by the donation recipients  110   a - b , for example. 
     For example, in connection with a donation request by the donor  104   a  to the donation recipient  110   d , the donor  104   a  (via his/her donation account) may initially transmit a donation request to the donation platform  122 . In so doing, the donation request may indicate that a one-time $20.00 donation is to be made to the donation recipient  110   d  from his/her payment account issued by the donor issuer  102 . In response, the donation platform  122  is configured to submit a corresponding authorization request to the donor issuer  102 , for example, via the payment network  106  (and network  112 ). The authorization request may include, for example, an amount of the donation (i.e., $20.00), payment account credentials for the donor&#39;s identified payment account, and payment account credentials for the payment account associated with the donation recipient  110   d  (as appended to the donation profile for the donation recipient  110   d , etc.), etc. The donor issuer  102  is configured to determine whether the donor&#39;s payment account is in good standing and whether there is sufficient credit or funds to complete the donation transaction. If approved, the donor issuer  102  is configured to provide an authorization reply back to the donation platform  122  (again, for example, via the payment network  106 ), which in turn is provided to the recipient issuer  108 , whereby the donation transaction is posted to the payment account associated with the donation recipient  110   d . The transaction is later cleared and/or settled by and between the donor issuer  102  and the recipient issuer  108 , and also the payment network  106  (via appropriate agreements). Alternatively, if the donor issuer  102  declines the transaction, the donor issuer  102  is configured to transmit an authorization reply indicating the decline back to the donation platform  122 , thereby permitting the donation platform  122  to indicate the decline to the donor  104   a.    
     In the above example, when the donation transaction is posted to the payment account associated with the donation recipient  110   d , the recipient issuer  108  is configured to transmit a payment card  126  (e.g., a prepaid payment card, etc.) to the donation recipient  110   d  associated with the payment account to which the donation funds were posted (since the donation recipient  110   d  does not include a communication device in this example). The donation recipient  110   d  may then use the payment card  126  in various different purchase transactions, as desired. This may similarly apply to donation recipient  110   b.    
     In other example donation transactions, for example, involving the donation recipients  110   a ,  110   c , when donation transactions are posted to the payment accounts associated with the donation recipients  110   a ,  110   c , the recipient issuer  108  is configured to transmit electronic notifications to the donation recipients  110   a ,  110   c  at their communication devices  118 ,  120  indicating that the funds are available for use, for example, via an electronic wallet application, etc. (e.g., as indicated by arrow C in  FIG. 1  in relation to donation recipient  110   c , etc.) (e.g., in addition to transmitting a payment card, in lieu of transmitting a payment card, etc.). 
     In still other example donation transactions, for example, involving the donation recipient  110   e , when donation transactions are posted to the payment accounts associated with the donation recipient  110   e , the recipient issuer  108  may be configured to transmit multiple payment cards  128  (e.g., prepaid payment cards, etc.) to the donation recipient  110   e  for distribution to particular individuals in need. The particular individuals may then use the payment cards  128  in various different purchase transactions, as desired. For instance, the donation recipient  110   e  may include the American Red Cross™ organization, whereby in response to a particular event, the American Red Cross™ organization facilitates a relief effort for the event. In so doing, the American Red Cross™ organization may look to the donation platform  122  for donation funds and, upon receipt of the payment cards  128  comprising the donation funds, may distribute the payment cards  128  to individuals affected by the particular event (e.g., at an onsite emergency tent located at the particular event, etc.). 
     Further in the system  100 , the donation platform  122  is also configured to provide different views and/or information at the network environment for the donors  104   a - b , whereby the donors  104   a - b  are able to view images of relief efforts provided by ones of the donation recipients  110   a - e , images of how donated funds are being used by the donation recipients  110   a - e , other donors linked to the donors  104   a - b  (e.g., based in invitation requests by the donors  104   a - b , etc.), Circles of Influence associated with the donations made by the donors  104   a - b  (e.g., listings of the donation recipients  110   a - d  to which donations have been made by the donors  104   a - b , etc.), links to social media where donation information can be upload for sharing so that others associated with the donors  104   a - b  can view (or be given access to view) donations by the donors and/or their Circles of Influence, etc. (see, for example, the interfaces  400 - 700  of  FIGS. 4-7 , etc.) 
     In connection therewith, the donation platform  122  may be configured to provide invitations and/or notifications to other donors  104   a - b  regarding potential donations. Specifically, for example, the donor  104   a  may wish to invite the donor  104   b  to donate to a specific donation recipient or to multiple donation recipients (e.g., in response to making a current donation, etc.), or generally, to participate in the donation platform  122  (when the donor  104   b  is not yet registered). To do so, the donor  104   a  provides contact information for the donor  104   b , and specifies the donation recipient(s) and/or indicates a metric to be provided to the donor  104   b . The donation platform  122 , in turn, provides the invitation and/or notification to the donor  104   b , in accordance with the provided contact information. In some embodiments the notification may include an indication of how much the donor  104   a  has donated to a particular recipient or in general, for a particular time frame or since registering with the donation platform  122 . For example,  FIG. 10  illustrates an exemplary challenge interface  1000  that may be displayed to the donor  104   a  to show potential donation recipients  902 - 906  (e.g., upon selection of link  412  to search for donation recipients in the donor profile interface  400 , etc.). 
     Moreover, through the donation platform  122 , the donor  104   a  may attempt to challenge, compete with, link with, etc. the donor  104   b  and/or other donors (e.g., as bragging, as an invitation to follow the donor  104   a , etc.), whereby donation information related to one of the donors  104   a - b  would be available to the other one of the donors  104   a - b . For example, the donor  104   a  may select an invitation to the donor  104   b , to join a donor group in which the donor  104   a  is involved, or, potentially, to form a donor group with donor  104   a . The donation platform  122 , in turn, is configured to compile and transmit the invitation to the donor  104   b , in accordance with the instruction provided by the donor  104   a  and/or in accordance with a profile associated with the donor  104   b  (if registered, for example). 
     With that said,  FIGS. 10-12  illustrate various exemplary interfaces  1000 - 1200  through which the donor  104   a  may interact with his/her Circle of Influence and effect a gamification aspect of the donation platform  122  (e.g., to challenge other donors to donate more in general, or for a specified period, or to a specific cause, etc.; etc.). For example,  FIG. 10  illustrates an exemplary Circle of Influence interface  1000  that may be displayed to the donor  104   a  to show an overview of his/her donations (e.g., upon selection of one of the links  416  in the interface  400  of  FIG. 4  by the donor  104   a  to promote his/her Circle of Influence, etc.). In connection therewith, the interface  1000  includes an indication  1002  of points earned by the donor  104   a  through his/her donations (e.g., as a product of donation amount and people impacted, etc.) and a listing  1004  of top areas impacted by the donor&#39;s donations. The interface  1000  also includes an option  1006  for the donor  104   a  to share his/her points on social media, an option  1008  for the donor to challenge friends to make donations, and an option  1010  for the donor  104   a  to view a leaderboard (broadly, a hierarchy) of top donors (e.g., the donor  104   a  may implement an August back to school challenge based on who can generate the most influence points for the month of August to global school related causes, etc.). Further, the interface  1000  includes a search feature  1012 , whereby the donor  104   a  may search for additional information and/or potential donation recipients based on different areas of need his/her followers are supporting and different areas of need in which he/she may be interested (e.g., potentially resulting in the interface  900  of  FIG. 9 , etc.). 
       FIG. 11  illustrates an exemplary leaderboard interface  1100 , which may be displayed to the donor  104   a  to show top donors in various different donation categories (e.g., upon selection of the leaderboard option  1010  from the interface  1000  of  FIG. 10  by the donor  104   a , etc.). In connection therewith, the interface  1100  includes various listings of top donors (either based on overall donors registered to the donation platform  122 , or potentially based only on donors affiliated with donor  104   a ), for example, based on total financial contributions and based on total people impacted for the month of July, and a listing of geographic regions receiving the most donations. In various embodiments, the leaderboard may include a listing of donors based on points (e.g., where the points are a product of donation amount and people impacted, etc.), based on meals provided, based on vaccines provided, etc. And,  FIG. 12  illustrates an exemplary challenge interface  1200 , which may be displayed to the donor  104   a  to challenge other donors to make donations (e.g., upon selection of the challenge option  1008  from the interface  1000  of  FIG. 10  by the donor  104   a , etc.). In connection therewith, the interface  1200  includes various options for the donor  104   a  to compile a donation challenge for one or more contacts. For example, the interface  1200  includes options  1202 ,  1204  for the donor  104   a  to select a timeframe and a category for the challenge. Additionally, the interface  1200  includes options  1206 ,  1208  for the donor  104   a  to select predefined template challenges or to select from one or more prior challenges. The interface  1200  then further includes an option  1210  for the donor  104   a  to import contact information for friends and acquaintances, through which the challenges can be forwarded (e.g., emailed to select ones of the imported contacts, etc.). 
     It should again be appreciated that the interfaces  1000 - 1200  described above and illustrated in  FIGS. 10-12  are exemplary in nature and do not limit the scope of the present disclosure, as various other interfaces, with similar or different content, may be used in other embodiments. 
     In various embodiments herein, it should be appreciated that the donation platform  122  may employ one or more different controls associated with the payment accounts of the donation recipients  110   a - d  registered to the donation platform  122 . 
     For example, in one embodiment, the donation platform  122  may impose a limit threshold on donations to each, or some, of the donation recipients  110   a - e . In particular in this example, the donation recipient  110   b  may be associated with a threshold limit that is equal to some percentage of a normal salary (e.g., 50%, 300%, etc.), that is associated with an interval (e.g., one week, one month, one quarter, one year, etc.), etc. In this manner, the donation recipient  110   b  may be limited in what he/she might be able to receive from a donor, which may, in some instances, protect the donation recipient  110   b  from theft and/or abuse, while also potentially preventing donors from giving beyond the donation recipient&#39;s needs and/or expected needs (e.g., potentially creating the perception of donation abuse, etc.), preventing money laundering, preventing fraudulent money activities, etc. Other controls may be imposed by the donation platform  122 , which relate to the donors  104   a - b  or the donation recipients  110   a - e , for one or more of the same of different purposes. 
       FIG. 13  illustrates an exemplary method  1300  for facilitating a donation transaction, for example, between a donor and a donation recipient. In connection therewith, the method  1300  is generally described with regard to a donation by the donor  104   a  to the donation recipient  110   a , as implemented in the donation platform  122  and with reference to the computing device  200 . It should be appreciated, however, that the methods herein are not limited to the system  100  and/or the computing device  200 , and conversely that the systems and computing devices herein are not limited to method  1300 . 
     In the method  1300 , when the donor  104   a  (once registered to the donation platform  122 ) desires to make a donation, in general, the donor  104   a  accesses, by use of the communication device  114 , the donation platform  122 , at  1302 , via the associated website (or, via a network-based application, etc.) provided by the donation platform  122 . The donation platform  122  may require particular credentials (e.g., a username, a password, a PIN, etc.) for the donor  104   a  to obtain such access. In response, for example, to the credentials, or otherwise, the donation platform  122  identifies the donor  104   a , at  1304 . Thereafter, the donation platform  122  provides access to the profile associated with the donor  104   a , and causes the website (or interfaces included therein such as interface  400  of  FIG. 4 , for example) to conform to the profile of the donor  104   a , as appropriate, at  1306 . In connection therewith, the donation platform  122  may display the network environment to the donor  104   a , as particularly associated with preferences, donation history, etc. associated with the donor  104   a  (and/or his/her donation profile). As such, the network environment may include a listing of available donation recipients  110   a - e  to the donor  104   a . Additionally, or alternatively, the network environment may include other donors linked to the donor  104   a  (e.g., based on invitation requests by the donor  104   a , etc.), Circles of Influence associated with the donations made by the donor  104   a  (e.g., listings of the donation recipients  110   a - e  to which donations have been made by the donor  104   a , listings of donations made by other donors in the Circles of Influence associated with the donor  104   a , rankings (broadly, hierarchies) of donors in the Circle of Influence based on donation amounts or numbers of donations, etc.), etc. Regardless, the donor  104   a  may use information in the network environment to determine and/or evaluate aspects of a next desired donation. 
     At  1308 , after identifying the donor  104   a , the donation platform  122  retrieves information for the available donation recipients  110   a - e , from the data structure  124  (as obtained during registration of the donation recipients  110   a - e ), to which the donor  104   a  may make donations. This may be done automatically by the donation platform  122 , upon the donor  104   a  accessing his/her account (which may be considered, broadly, a donation request by the donor  104   a ). Or, this may be done in response to a particular selection by the donor  104   a  to make a donation (broadly, a selection of a donation request by the donor  104   a ). In either case, the donation platform  122  then causes an interface to display to the donor  104   a , at  1310 , at the communication device  114  (at the presentation unit  206 ), including entries for one or more of the available donation recipients  110   a - e  (as retrieved from the data structure  124 ). In connection therewith, each of the entries may include the profile(s) for one of the donation recipients  110   a - e , or merely part thereof. 
     In response to the interface including the entries for the one or more of the available donation recipients  110   a - e , the donor  104   a  selects, at  1312 , one of the donation recipients  110   a - e , such as the donation recipient  110   a  in this example, to which the donor  104   a  desires to make a donation. In turn, the donation platform  122  solicits donation details from the donor  104   a  for the desired donation to the donation recipient  110   a . And, the donor  104   a  provides the donation details, at  1314 . The donation details may include, for example, a confirmation that the donation is to be made to the selected donation recipient  110   a , an amount of the desired donation, an indication of whether the donation is a one-time only donation or a recurring donation, an interval for the recurring donation (e.g., start date, end date, interval, etc.) if selected, and an indication of the payment account to be used to perform the donation (e.g., as selected from one or more available payment accounts at the donor&#39;s profile, etc.). As can be seen, the donation herein is driven by the donor  104   a  searching for the particular donation recipient  110   a  and desiring to make the donation to the donation recipient  110   a.    
     Next in the method  1300 , the donation platform  122  determines, based on the profile for the selected donation recipient  110   a  (as retrieved at  1308 , or as subsequently retrieved here), whether a payment account is associated with the donation recipient  110   a , at  1316 . If a payment account is not yet associated with the donation recipient  110   a , the donation platform  122  associates a payment account with the donation recipient  110   a , at  1318 , and appends payment account credentials for the payment account to the profile of the donation recipient  110   a , at  1320  (e.g., in conjunction with the recipient issuer  108 , etc.). The donation platform  122  then causes the payment account to be delivered, at  1324 , to the donation recipient  110   a , either embodied in a physical payment device (e.g., the payment card  126 , one or more of the payment cards  128 , etc.), or electronically (e.g., as a virtual card specific to a payment application of the donation recipient  110   a  (e.g., a virtual wallet card, etc.), etc.). Conversely, if the donation recipient  110   a  is already associated with a payment account, the donation platform  122  retrieves, at  1322 , the credentials for the payment account as included in the profile for the donation recipient  110   a.    
     Thereafter, in either case, the donation platform  122  initiates, at  1326 , a donation transaction to the payment account associated with the donation recipient  110   a  (as generally described above in connection with the system  100 ). In particular, the donation platform  122  is configured to submit a corresponding authorization request to the donor issuer  102 . The donor issuer  102  is configured to determine whether the donor&#39;s payment account is in good standing and whether there is sufficient credit or funds to complete the donation transaction. If approved, the donor issuer  102  is configured to provide an authorization reply, at  1328 , back to the donation platform  122 , which in turn transmits the reply, at  1330 , to the recipient issuer  108 , whereby the donation transaction is posted, by the recipient issuer  108 , at  1332 , to the payment account associated with the donation recipient  110   a . Specifically, the funds associated with the donation transaction are deposited to the donation recipient&#39;s payment account. As described above, in numerous embodiments, the funds will be deposited to a physical prepaid card, which will be, or has previously been delivered to the donation recipient. In addition, or alternatively, the payment account may be associated with a virtual prepaid card, for example, stored in a payment application, at the communication device  116 . In any case, the donation platform further provides, at  1334 , a notification to the donation recipient  110   a , so that he/she is informed of the available funds. 
     Alternatively, if the donor issuer  102  declines the transaction, the donor issuer  102  is configured to transmit an authorization reply, at  1328 , indicating the decline back to the donation platform  122 , thereby permitting the donation platform  122  to indicate the decline to the donor  104   a , at  1336 . 
     With continued reference to  FIG. 13 , in connection with effecting the donation transaction (when approved by the donor issuer  102 ), the donation platform  122  further alters, at  1338 , one or more donation metrics for the donor  104   a  at his/her donation profile, to include the new donation transaction. In so doing, the network environment for the donor  104   a  (e.g., the donor&#39;s Circle of Influence, the donor&#39;s donation history, etc.) is updated to reflect the new donation. In addition, a donation history for the donor  104   a  may be updated, whereby the donation history may be maintained and accessible for the donor  104   a  for subsequent reference, for example, for tax reporting, etc. In connection therewith, the various donation recipients  110   a - e  may also include indicators (e.g., in their profiles, etc.) of whether or not donations by the donor  104   a  to the particular ones of the donation recipients are tax deductible (e.g., in a given country, etc.). 
     In view of the above, the systems and methods herein provide a unique donation experience for donors to make donations to donation recipients and, in so doing, also provide improvements to the field of commerce as it relates to network-based donation transactions. For example, unique donation environments are generated for donors, through which the donors are able to view profiles associated with donation recipients, select donations to make to particular recipients, initiate donation transactions for the donations, and challenge other donors to do the same. The donation environments are also particular to the donors and are customizable, so that each of the donors is provided with a unique donation experience (e.g., a unique listing of donation recipients, identification of a unique Circle of Influence, donation points and standings particular to the donors, etc.), and ability to immediately view the effects of their donations on particular donation recipients. The donation environments further allow the donors to view their donation efforts against other donors, for example through rankings, etc., thereby providing a gamification aspect to the donation environments that is not conventional and that may, in fact, potentially increase donation transactions. 
     Again and as previously described, it should be appreciated that the functions described herein, in some embodiments, may be described in computer executable instructions stored on a computer readable media, and executable by one or more processors. The computer readable media is a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media. 
     It should also be appreciated that one or more aspects of the present disclosure transforms a general-purpose computing device into a special-purpose computing device when configured to perform the functions, methods, and/or processes described herein. 
     As will be appreciated based on the foregoing specification, the above-described embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented using computer programming or engineering techniques including computer software, firmware, hardware or any combination or subset thereof, wherein the technical effect may be achieved by: (a) identifying a first entity associated with a profile in a data structure associated with the platform computing device; (b) causing at least one profile associated with at least one recipient to be displayed to the first entity at a computing device associated with the first entity; (c) in response to a selection by the first entity, at an interface provided by a platform computing device, of the at least one recipient: (i) retrieving credentials for an account associated with the at least one recipient; (ii) initiating a network-based transaction to the account associated with the at least one recipient; and (iii) altering a metric associated with the profile of the first entity consistent with the network-based transaction and modifying a hierarchy of the first entity relative to other entities based on the altered metric; (d) distributing funds associated with the network-based transaction to the account associated with the at least one recipient, when a total donation for an interval satisfies a limit threshold; (e) soliciting from the first entity an identification of a payment account for providing the funds to be loaded to the account associated with the at least one recipient; (f) transmitting a notification to the at least one recipient when the donation transaction is approved by an issuer associated with the payment account identified by the first entity; (g) generating a donation challenge, based on an input by the first entity, soliciting a donation to the at least one recipient; (h) identifying at least one contact associated with the first entity and transmitting the donation challenge to the at least one contact; (i) compiling a Circle of Influence for the first entity based on donations made by the first entity, the Circle of Influence including a listing of recipients to which donations have been made by the first entity; and (j) updating the Circle of Influence to include the network-based transaction and the at least one recipient associated therewith. 
     Exemplary embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough, and will fully convey the scope to those who are skilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth such as examples of specific components, devices, and methods, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not be employed, that example embodiments may be embodied in many different forms and that neither should be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure. In some example embodiments, well-known processes, well-known device structures, and well-known technologies are not described in detail. 
     The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular exemplary embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “including,” and “having,” are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as an order of performance. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed. 
     When a feature is referred to as being “on,” “engaged to,” “connected to,” “coupled to,” “associated with,” “included with,” or “in communication with” another feature, it may be directly on, engaged, connected, coupled, associated, included, or in communication to or with the other feature, or intervening features may be present. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. 
     In addition, as used herein, the term product may include a good and/or a service. 
     None of the elements recited in the claims are intended to be a means-plus-function element within the meaning of 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) unless an element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for,” or in the case of a method claim using the phrases “operation for” or “step for.” 
     The foregoing description of exemplary embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described. The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.