Build a Vetted Giving and Impact Reporting Engine

1. 1

   Build the verification pipeline against public data first

   Ingest the IRS exempt organizations business master file extract, the Publication 78 eligibility data, the automatic revocation list and the electronically filed Form 990 data. Match on employer identification number rather than name, because names collide and change. This part requires nobody's cooperation, which is exactly why it goes first.

2. 2

   Turn filings into plain language a donor can act on

   A Form 990 is not readable by a normal person. Extract the things a donor actually asks about: how much goes to programme work, what the leadership is paid, how much is held in reserve, whether filings are current. Say it in sentences, and always link to the source document so a sceptical donor can check you.

3. 3

   Add sanctions and status screening as a gate, not a report

   Run sanctions screening and revocation checks before a payment is initiated, not as an afterthought in a monthly review. A single dollar routed to a revoked or sanctioned organisation is the kind of failure that ends a giving platform, and it is entirely preventable.

4. 4

   Recruit ten to twenty nonprofits in one cause area

   Pick one narrow area you can speak about credibly rather than every cause at once. Ask each organisation to commit in writing to a quarterly evidence pack in an agreed format. Most will say no. The ones who say yes are your entire early product and your differentiator.

5. 5

   Design the recurring engine around the flat fee

   Card processing commonly runs around 2.9 percent plus thirty cents and bank transfers around 1.9 percent plus thirty cents. On a five dollar gift the flat component is the whole problem, so batch small recurring gifts into larger periodic disbursements, prefer bank transfer rails where you can, and offer donors the option to cover fees, which between sixty and eighty percent of donors take when asked.

6. 6

   Close the loop and make it visible

   Take the quarterly packs, tie each one to what that specific donor funded, and send it as a short, concrete update rather than a newsletter. This is the feature the whole product exists for, and it is the reason a donor is still there in year three.

7. 7

   Package the same engine for employers

   Companies running workplace giving need exactly the same vetting, disbursement and reporting, and they have budget and a compliance obligation that individuals do not. Selling the engine into employers is usually what makes the consumer side financially viable.

Do not take our word for the money. Put your own numbers in and see what this idea has to earn before it works. Free, instant, no account needed.

Best for: Mission driven builders who are comfortable with payments compliance and patient enough to earn nonprofit cooperation

Not for: This is not for someone who wants a quick launch. Between the data pipeline, the payments and tax structure, and the months of relationship building required before a single nonprofit commits to sending outcome evidence, the runway to real revenue is long, and a builder who needs income inside ninety days will abandon it before the loop closes.