Frequently Asked Questions

GiveClear Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization EIN: 81-3222963 and acts as a charitable grant making foundation. Your Giving Fund is established within GiveClear Foundation as a Donor Advised Fund.

A Giving Fund is a charitable giving account designed to invest, grow, and grant assets to non-profits for meaningful and lasting impact. Once funds are contributed, they are non-refundable. You receive an immediate tax receipt for the full amount of your contribution(s). You can grant from your fund over time as it makes sense for your philanthropic goals.

Your contribution is an irrevocable donation into your Giving Fund and becomes the property of GiveClear Foundation. Any monies distributed from your fund must be designated to a qualified 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Yes, a private foundation can place its assets in a Giving Fund. The foundation would need to make a final grant to GiveClear Foundation, the nonprofit organization that sponsors your Giving Fund.

No, not at this time. However, this feature is coming soon.

You can, however, contribute to the Giving Fund of family members while maintaining the tax receipt in your name. For more information, contact support@giveclear.org

There are no minimums to open or maintain a Giving Fund.

An investment management fee which is below industry standards is applied to advisory accounts based on your advisor's program.

While GiveClear exists to help more people give more money to more nonprofits, we are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization ourselves. We rely on the generosity of people like you to provide us with the resources needed to cover administrative costs. Although we charge small expense recovery amounts on funds, it does not cover all of our costs. Thus, we ask that you consider allocating a percentage of your Giving Fund to us. A donation of 3% of your charitable contribution amounts would supplement GiveClear Foundation’s operations and help us continue our mission to encourage and expand charitable giving. To do so, please make a grant to GiveClear Foundation EIN: 8132229632

Grant is the term used when a donation is made to a qualified 501(c)(3) non-profit organization from your Giving Fund.

When you make a grant recommendation from your GiveClear Giving Fund, GiveClear Foundation needs to verify that the non-profit is qualified to receive funds through our program and that there are no incidental benefits. Grant recommendations are generally approved within 48 hours of your request. You can find qualified non-profits by using the “Search” page.

You can grant to any 501(c)(3) non-profit in good standing with the IRS. If your intended non-profit does not appear in our search results, please contact the organization about its 501(c)(3) status and the official name it has registered with the IRS.

All grant recommendations are reviewed to:

1. Confirm that the grantee is a 501(c)(3) in good standing with the IRS and the Office of Foreign Affairs (OFAC).
2. Verify that all grants will be used solely for charitable purposes and will not confer more than an incidental benefit on the donor or related parties.

Grant recommendations are not permitted if the grant provides a personal benefit to the donor or a related person to the donor. The restrictions for recommended grants are as follows:

1. Private benefit for any individual(s)
2. Dues or membership fees
3. Tuition payments
4. Purchasing tickets to a benefit
5. Purchasing goods at a charitable auction
6. Funding a pre-existing, binding pledge which you are legally obligated to fulfill
7. Lobbying, political contributions, or political campaigns

NOTE: Please refer to IRS guidelines for a full explanation of charitable grant restrictions.

Generally, grant recommendations may not be reversed once approved. If you are experiencing a technical issue, please reach out to support@giveclear.org.

Grant recommendations are reviewed for approval within 48 hours of submission, provided the grant recommendation meets our approval guidelines.

Your grant may have been declined for one of the following reasons:

1. The nonprofit has lost its tax-exempt status or has been placed on the Office of Foreign Affairs (OFAC) watchlist.
2. The purpose of the grant might benefit you personally.

Yes, by selecting the checkbox for “I wish to remain anonymous” when making your grant recommendation. In doing so, GiveClear Foundation will not share your name or address.

No, you are prohibited from making grants that will be used for lobbying purposes or to support political campaigns.

You cannot make grants to crowdfunding organizations that are not qualified as a nonprofit with the IRS. To support someone who is participating in an activity for nonprofit, you can recommend a grant to the nonprofit directly.

You can recommend grants to fulfill a nonbinding pledge, but not to fulfill any of your binding legal obligations.

Subject to certain limitations, you can specify a special purpose for your grant when you make your grant recommendation. Choose from the options available in the dropdown menu or select “other” to enter a specific designation. For example, if you have a recurring child sponsorship, simply enter the child’s name and ID (if applicable) in the text field. The charity will be notified when it receives the grant. Please keep in mind that you cannot make any grants to benefit yourself or your relatives.

No. Unlike contributions, grants cannot claim deductions, regardless of whether the amount granted is greater than your contribution(s) amount.

There is no minimum grant amount but GiveClear Foundation encourages a minimum grant amount of $20.

Grants are issued to nonprofits weekly. To keep administrative costs low, GiveClear makes every effort to transfer grant funds to nonprofits electronically. If a nonprofit has provided direct deposit information, funds should be received by the nonprofit within 2 - 7 business days of grant approval.

For nonprofits that do not have direct deposit, a check will be sent within five business days of grant processing. Checks not cashed within six months of the issue date will be redeposited into your Giving Fund.

In some cases, it may take your nonprofit time to cash a grant check once they have received it. You can inquire directly with your nonprofit about your grant. Please indicate that the grant is coming from GiveClear Foundation.