*Please don’t leave nominations on this blog. You can nominate at the ableGiving site.
Having worked for some (very) small non-profits, I can attest first-hand to the kind of impact a smaller donation can make on their ability to further their mission. That “every bit helps” mentality is part of the impetus behind an innovative new online bank, ableBanking. ableBanking isn’t open yet, but their plan is to offer customers better interest rates, smaller account minimums, and the opportunity to help out a local charitable organization of their choice just by signing up. To help kick things off, ableBanking is asking you to nominate your favorite Massachusetts 501c3 charity to be eligible for a $1000 gift. The top five nominated organizations will win.
You may not be familiar with online banking, but ableBanking will provide savings accounts (Money Market and CD) for consumers. Because they have no brick-and-mortar establishments to maintain, and due to their commitment on using marketing dollars for good rather than simple self-promotion, they will be able to donate $25 for each account opened to the account holder’s choice of charity. On top of that, on the account-holder’s anniversary with the bank, ableBanking will donate an additional 0.25% of their average balance to a charity of choice. It doesn’t cost you anything. If the math is making your head swim, here’s an excerpt from ableBanking’s website:
You won’t see big ableBanking billboards, or signs in stadiums, or tv ads. Instead, with our customers, we are going to redirect significant corporate dollars to help our communities. How much? Approximately $2.5 million for every $1 billion in deposits in our bank will go to charities. If you’re interested in the math, if a community bank has $10 billion in deposits (and many do), then our customers would be giving $25 million to charities each year – and they’d STILL be getting much better rates than traditional banks offer.
If you’re wondering what the catch is, you’re not alone. I thought the same thing. But the cool thing is that there is no catch. The idea is that consumers should be excited about their bank, and thrilled to be able to support local organizations. That’s it. Instead of ads, ableBanking hopes word of mouth will spread organically because of the benefits. In fact, your organization may choose to have a fundraiser by encouraging people to sign up with ableBanking and taking in the $25 per person donation. ableBanking has already partnered with 6 local organizations (Rosie’s Place, Greater Boston Food Bank, MSPC-Angell, Teach for America, JVS Boston, and Boston Children’s Chorus) to help tell their stories. You can learn more about each of these partner organizations as well as ableBanking through some wonderful videos on their YouTube channel.
If you’re not quite ready to move your savings account over, that’s OK. ableBanking isn’t quite ready for you to do that, either. Instead, they’re asking for something simple. Head over to the ableGiving site and take just a minute to nominate a local organization. Tell your friends to do the same. The 5 groups that receive the most nominations by January 31, 2012, will win a $1000 grant from ableBanking. It’s super easy. If you’re concerned about entering in your email address, ableBanking has assured us that they won’t be spamming you every other day. They will let you know when they launch, at which point you can feel free to unsubscribe if you’d like.
Nominations are open to all 501c3 non-profits who serve Massachusetts communities. One nomination per person, please!
Disclosure: I am being compensated by ableBanking to help spread the facts about this kick-off program. The opinions contained in this post are my own.
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