A great business advice for any start up or organization is “expect the unexpected.” It’s a nice surprise to see something that you’ve planned develops into something far greater than what you’ve expected. That’s what happened to the nonprofit business TisBest Charity Gift Cards. Their gift cards grew into something more than giving and supporting charities, but a tool to teach nonbelievers that giving is good.
We are a giving company. We donate a portion of our service fees to our client’s favorite charity. We include the donation receipt in a card and thank them for their business. But, we will change the way we process the donation with a TisBest Charity Gift Card.
A couple of years ago some friends gave us a TisBest Charity Gift Card during the holidays. This was the first time we’ve seen or heard of the alternative gift card and we’re intrigued about how it worked.
When we got the TisBest Charity Gift Card, we went to their website www.tisbest.org to research the company and how to use the gift card. We entered our TisBest code from the gift card, chose our charity, and confirmed our donation. Simple. Quick. Felt good to give.
What took the longest in the process was picking the right organization to donate to. There are over 250 charities listed on the site. Researching the organizations to see what they were all about and what they advocated for was an educational experience — even for cause evangelists who are familiar with a lot of nonprofit organizations.
TisBest Philanthropy created this fantastic donation gift card for friends, family members, sweethearts, customers and everyone else truly important. The recipient spends their TisBest Charity Gift Card by donating to a charity they believe in. – TisBest
After speaking with Erik Marks, Founder of TisBest Charity Gift Cards, he said “the gift cards evolved into something that wasn’t originally planned.” It’s developed into a tool that teaches young children, young adults, and parents the meaning of giving.
When a recipient receives a TisBest gift card they have to choose a charity to donate to (over 250 charities). They’ll pick a charity that speaks to their heart and not predetermined by the sender. If your friends are like us, we don’t donate to charities haphazardly. We research the organization’s cause and background before we decide to support their efforts – the same actions your gift card recipient will probably follow. Once the charity has been selected and they have made their donation, it’s done. At the end of the day your recipient will learn about different causes and nonprofit organizations available, and they will have a feeling of gratitude because they gave to a charity that they believed in (ownership in the process). Win-win-win.
There a several books about the philosophy of giving and why certain people feel compelled to give back. We know. We own some of those books. However, we found out that the easiest way to teach people the value of giving and have that “light bulb” moment is to let go and let the giver give at their free will. Non-givers must have a reason to give (a compelling story) and see value of it before crossing that bridge. The TisBest gift card is the vehicle for that journey.
In a time when tragedy and disasters are in the news almost daily, and charities plead for donations to help with relief efforts. Giving and helping those in need is ever so important. Let’s teach this generation about giving back and the needs of others by empowering them with a TisBest Charity Gift Card. It will change their life.
What tools do you use to teach the value of giving?
Thanks Joe Waters, author of the “Selfish Giving” blog, for reminding us about the TisBest Charity Gift Cards.
