March 19, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
Wells Fargo has set up charitable automated teller machines in the San Francisco Bay Area that give users the option of donating money to charities, notes Lucy Bernholz’s blog, Philanthropy 2173.
The machines benefit organizations such as the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula, Glide Memorial Church, Headlands Institute, and Self-Help for the Elderly.
Ms. Bernholz, founder and president of Blueprint Research & Design, a consulting firm for foundations and other donors, says the concept is similar to setups that allow immigrants to send money to their families in their home countries through automated teller machines.
Immigrants send billions of dollars to their families through teller machines, she writes. But it is still too early to tell whether ATM’s will become an effective tool for channeling money to nonprofit groups.
“Sending money home isn’t news — but tracking it digitally through banking systems and reporting out those numbers is — and it’s big news when the numbers are as large as these,” Ms. Bernholz writes. “How will this same reporting effect play out on domestic giving? Wait and see.”
Will this become an effective tool for charitable giving? Discuss your thoughts by clicking on the link just below this posting.
