Patent Publication Number: US-2010131381-A1

Title: Donations Exchange-Computerized Method automate Donations Request, Fulfillment and Tracking

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This invention claims priority from Provisional Application No. U.S. 61/074,650 
    
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Solicitations for donations are based on paper based manual process. Organizations requesting donations of any type, start by writing a letter and mailing it out to targeted organizations, companies or individuals. They would then rely on individuals related to the soliciting organization to call and follow up on the solicitation letters and to find out the status of the donation from the prospective donors. This is an inefficient process and costly to keep organized and managed for the soliciting organizations. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     To alleviate the problems inherent in the prior art, embodiments of the present invention provide an efficient and effective system and a method for operating a Donation Exchange System. The program relies on a set of standards and integrated processes to facilitate the automating of the Solicitation process. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     In one embodiment, a method, an online exchange platform and computer program is provided to participating Soliciting Organizations and Solicited Organization or Individuals. The System would allow the Soliciting Organization to select which organization they would solicit; to update their profile online for each organization they are soliciting; and to submit the solicitation request online. 
     The Exchange would then send the request electronically to existing Solicited Organizations or Individuals or to new prospects. The recipient would then have the option to accept the request, or to check for available inventory (managed by the exchange); get approvals from with their organization; review the solicitation history and then commit to the request based on the available information. The status of the request would then be passed back to the requesting organization electronically with detail on the participation commitment. The objective of the exchange it to be completely electronic, reducing inefficient paper processes. 
     In a second embodiment, a donor, can initiate and submit directly to a specific organization thru the Exchange, their participation or donation commitment. 
     In a third embodiment, the Exchange would allow Recipient Organizations of items to exchange the items with other Organization that might be interested in said items. 
     In a forth embodiment, the Exchange could generate Certificates per the request of the Certificates issuer to the Soliciting Organization. 
     In a fifth embodiment, the Exchange would provide statistical information on the exchange member participation and contributions as public announcements. It can also provide detailed tax records on contributions for the participating members.