AU2013100945A4 - Reward charity exchange system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a method for implementing a point based rewards system which facilitates the donations of used goods, funds, volunteer services or human tissue from donor members to charities for points. These said points can then be redeemed for a reward, such as a discount, from participating merchants. The said merchants, in turn, earn points for issuing rewards to donor members, which entitle them to receive merchant rewards such as discounted advertising or merchant goods and/or services from sponsoring organisations. The system can be implemented as a website and/or a mobile phone / tablet application. Appendix I FIG 1.0 Rewards Charity System Overview 1/2 26. Donations DONOR CHRIT IE S 7.oints 2 8. PVFo s 30.Rewar s 29. Points Administrator 31 .eants I 32.Rewards

Description

1 Title REWARDS CHARITY SYSTEM International Patent Classification(s) G06Q 20/22(2012.01) G06Q 30/00 (2012.01) Field of Invention The present invention relates to creation and administration of a point-based rewards system via a mobile and/or web-based application which benefits participating donors, businesses, charities and sponsor organizations. Background [0001] The Charities and Not-for-Profit Organisations industry can be seen as the glue that holds Australian communities together. Routinely performing valuable work in areas of little appeal to profit-making enterprises, charities and not-for-profit organisations tend to complement the work of the public sector towards creating a dignified and compassionate society. [0002] One of the key functions for a charity is to source donations from the general public to sponsor its initiatives. This can come in the form of used goods, volunteer services, monetary funding or human tissue e.g. blood. Sourcing donations is heavily reliant on the philanthropic heart of the public as it provides no tangible reward in return for generosity. The key challenge for charities, therefore, is getting enough of what they need when they need it, and in the right quality required to meet the need.

2 [0003] Current solutions to increasing donations include holding fund raising appeals at certain times of the year (e.g. winter appeal), and corporate sponsorships. Technological changes have also fostered revision of fundraising methods by organisations in the industry. Mobile applications are now easily accessible and are able to provide awareness towards various causes and further the aims of various industry organisations. Monetary donations via applications and texting, already occurring in the United States, are currently being looked into in Australia. [0004] More recently in June 2013, Australia's major welfare charities such as Vinnies and Salvation Army have sought government support to improve the quality of donations and reduce the rise of illegal 'public dumping' by requesting an increase in the landfill levy to fund this cost. This program has since been abandoned by the Victorian government and undergoing further review. Summary of Invention [0005] The present invention provides a method for implementing a point-based rewards system which facilitates the donations of used goods, funds, volunteer services or human tissue from donor members to charities for points. These said points can then be redeemed for a reward, such as a discount, from participating merchants. The said merchants, in turn, earn points for issuing rewards to donor members, which entitle them to receive merchant rewards such as discounted advertising or merchant goods and/or services from sponsoring organisations. The system can be implemented as a website and/or a mobile phone / tablet application.

3 Technical Problem [0006] While fund raising appeals, corporate sponsorships, and technological advancements have contributed to an increase in our accessibility to donate, these solutions do little to tangibly increase our desire or capacity to donate responsibly. [0007] The lack of tangible incentive to donate quality items hence results in 'public dumping' which can lead to high costs of moving rubbish to landfill (Australian national estimate of $5 million a year in 2013, source Probono News Australia), damaging our carbon footprint and wasting valuable time and resources. Solution to Problem [0008] This invention seeks to address the need for more consistent and responsible giving in the community by providing a tangible rewards system which encourages this. Instead of being penalised for illegal 'public dumping', this points system positively rewards individuals for donating responsibly to charity, and rewards businesses for supporting donors to charities. This integrated points system incentivizes individuals and businesses to give responsibly and rewards all participating donors, businesses, and charities. Advantageous Effects of Invention 4 [0009] The present invention provides the primary advantage of encouraging members to donate responsibly, i.e. items of better quality and value to charities. This will provide a steadier pipeline of donations throughout the year, and effectively reduce the need for charities to redirect items to landfills, and improve the quality of merchandise for resale at charity outlets. [0010] Donors are required to itemize and label donations utilizing the mobile / web application prior to making the donation. The processing effort taken upfront translates to significant savings in time and resources usually required by charities to sort through donations. [0011] Greater data visibility on donated items will be made available through this system, in which future strategies can be developed to generate more targeted donation campaigns. An example of this would be for charities to increase point contributions for wanted items, and heighten marketing activity in high donation localities. [0012] In addition to the above, this system facilitates an efficient network for linking donors and businesses to various charities, enabling wanted goods / services to be freely channelled across corporate boundaries to where it's needed most. Description of Embodiments [0013] FIG 1.0 illustrates an overview of the embodiments of the system of the present invention. The diagram outlines the flow of monetary and non-monetary donations in (26) directly from a member 5 donor to the charity. The charity validates donations through a centralised administrator connected remotely through a wireless exchange in (28) which assigns points to said donations and issues said points in (27) to the donor. The members then redeem their points (27) via mobile / web application for rewards in (29). Merchants also earn points (30) for rewards issued to donors in (29) which can also be redeemed in (30) for merchant rewards (31). [0014] FIG 2.0 illustrates the detailed embodiments of the rewards system of the present invention. The individual or entity first creates a donor account in (1) through a web or mobile application. Details such as name, location, contact details, age, gender, blood type, occupation is gathered and stored in a central database. Sign-up may be facilitated through the use of a social media network application such as facebook or twitter. Charities may also create charity accounts in (12) via the web / mobile application. This may include security steps to validate the charity's unique identifier in a public database (i.e. ACNC in Australia) to confirm its eligibility to participate. One charity may subscribe to multiple subsidiary accounts within a master account with varying authorization levels to accommodate for multiple outlets covered in the program. For example, a master account may update or add items approved for donation, assign points, while a subsidiary may only receive donation notifications and validate receipt of items as per (14) and (15). Similarly, the merchant in (18) creates an account via the web / mobile application. This includes an additional step to validate the merchant's unique identifier in a public database (i.e. ACN or ABN in Australia) to confirm its eligibility to participate. One merchant may subscribe to multiple subsidiary accounts within a master account to accommodate for multiple outlets covered in the program with various authorization levels. A master account can update or add items approved for an offer, build 6 offers and access reporting functions, while a subsidiary may only receive offer notifications and validate offers outlined in (20). [0015] Once the donor account is created in the mobile / web application, the member donor then selects the type of item being donated in (2), i.e. new or used goods, a volunteer service, human tissue (e.g. blood) or funds. The donation type will determine any additional information required from the donor including digital images, age and item attributes etc. In the case of physical good donations, the donor selects the number of items to donate through the mobile / web application which then generates donation transaction code labels. The labels may be printed and physically applied onto the items by the donor. The attached item labels are then scanned through the mobile / web application and 'tagged' by the donor with descriptive attributes and photograph of the item to be donated. In the case of donating funds, a volunteer service, points or human tissue the donor selects the type of donation and submits in a request to donate which generates a donation transaction ID. [0016] The donor then nominates a charity recipient in (3) for the donated goods and/or services. The selection of a nominated charity can be based on the donor's selection criteria such as closest location or preferred charity. [0017] The donor then finalises the contents of the donation in (4) by clicking a button on the web / mobile application to automatically generate a donation transaction ID and trigger a notification request to nominated charities. Estimated points are assigned to an item as per step (13) using an algorithm derived on 7 key inputs managed by the administrator, and includes determinants based on (a) resale value of the item, and (b) demand for the item. [0018] The nominated charities receive this donor notification request in (3) along with donation transaction ID information via the web / mobile application. The nominated charities then receive the goods, funds or service from the donor in (14) and validate the points request through the web / mobile application by confirming actual items delivered against a generated picking list previously prepared by the donor in (2) associated with the donation transaction ID. If validation is successful by the charity in (15), the application finalises the points based on the values assigned in step (13) and releases the points to the donor. The donor then receives a notification in (5) that points have been released and points get credited to the donor account. [0019] In (6) the donor enters the offer redemption section of the mobile / web application to search for available merchant offers. Offers are created by the merchant in (19) via the web / mobile application which enables the creation of customised offers comprising of both points (representing the discounted portion) and dollar value (representing the paid portion). Other relevant information such as item description, offer validity, image and size may also be included in the offer. Offers can be provided at an itemised level or as a package e.g. '200ml Coke' or '200ml Coke + Small Popcorn deal'. Offers can be found through a hierarchical or keyword tag search, location search, merchant search or refined according to the donor's selected criteria.

8 [0020] The donor then proceeds to redeem the selected offer in (7) by clicking a 'redeem' button on the application. This generates unique offer ID viewable on a mobile / web device, which may also be sent to the nominated merchant for notification. In (20) the nominated merchant receives the notification request from the member, including the unique Offer ID. The merchant may then validate the redemption of the offer upon matching the offer ID in the merchant's account against the donor account. [0021] If the offer is valid, the donor receives the discount in (8) in the form of savings on an item as specified in the merchant offer. The points outlined in the offer get deducted in (9) from the donor's points balance and is updated in the central database. Upon validation the points get deducted from the donor's account in (22) and added to the merchant's account by the mobile / web application as points earned. [0022] The merchant earns points in (22) for issuing rewards to donors in (8) validated by the central database (17). These said points can similarly be redeemed by the merchant for merchant rewards in (24). Such rewards may include increased advertising frequency on the host mobile / web application, or merchant discounts from sponsoring organisations. The merchant is able to nominate their merchant reward in (23) and redeem their said reward in (24) exchange for points. Points are deducted from the merchant account in (25) once the merchant rewards are redeemed. [0023] Member points may be donated in (10) and shared with friends connected through a social network. Donation activity, and points activity for any of the parties, i.e. charitable institution, 9 program member and participating merchant can also be shared through the means of a social network. Following from activities in (10), the donated points get deducted in (11) from the donor's points balance and is updated in the central database. [0024] Central database in (17) is managed centrally by an administrator via a mobile / web application back-end interface, and captures all donation, member and point transaction data between the merchants, donors and charities. This information can be used for reporting, campaign creation or prioritisation. Parts of this database can be viewed by members based on their authorisation and access level. Program members including merchants, donors and charities can achieve various status groupings, e.g. bronze, silver, gold based on their level of accumulated point transactions as captured in the database over time. For example, a donor with a gold status may receive additional rewards from the merchant. In another example, a merchant with a gold status may receive increased levels of advertising during peak periods.

Claims (4)

1. A rewards system for providing a platform for members to donate used goods, volunteer services, funds or human tissue to charities for points, which said points can be redeemed at participating merchants for rewards such as discounted goods and services.

2. A rewards system for providing a platform for merchants to earn points for issuing rewards to donors to charities according to claim 1 which said points can be redeemed at sponsoring organisations for merchant rewards such as discounted advertising or merchant goods and/or services.

3. A rewards system according to any of one of the claims 1 2 wherein the system can be implemented as a website and/or a mobile phone / tablet application

4. A rewards system according to any of the claims 1-3 wherein points may be issued based on a donation transaction and said points may subsequently be used for redeeming rewards.