The Christian Giving Organization

▪The most important thing to remember is to always begin your online shopping at cive.org so we can track your purchases. If you go to a merchants site by directly entering their address or clicking a link in a marketing email they will not know you are a cgive user and the donation will not be paid.

▪If you leave a merchant site with items in your shopping cart and later return and purchase these items you may not earn credit for these purchases. To be safe empty your cart when you leave a site if you decide not to make the purchase.

▪Donation percentages do not include the cost of shipping or sales tax, if applicable.

▪Most merchants will not pay a percentage of online purchases made with gift cards.

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How do I know if it is working? When you log on to your "My Account" page you can view a list of your last 10 purchases by clicking "View My Earnings" at the top of the page. Many merchants update us with purchase information within a few days of your purchase. However, some merchants can take up to a month to provide this information. Top

How do I find out how much I have earned? Your earnings and also the total amount earned for your Charity or Tuition Assistance Account can be found on the "My Account" page. Please remember it can take up to a month for purchases to clear and your earnings to be credited to your account. Top

Is the entire percentage given to my charity or tuition? In most cases you will earn at a minimum the percentage listed for the merchant. Sometimes you may even earn a little extra. Many of our merchants will increase donations based the amount of sales activity our site generates.

Please note some merchants have items that may be excluded from the program. We will list exclusions next to the merchant link on the shopping page. We do are best to keep donation percentages and excluded items up to date, however we can not guarantee they will not change between the time of your purchase and your donation payment. Top

Why are only certain stores listed on cgive.org? First, it is important know that not all online merchants agree to this type of partnership. We try to target quality online stores that are willing to donate a reasonable percentage and offer free shipping. We are continually working on developing partnership agreements with new stores to give you greater variety and the highest possible donation percentages. Top

Can I earn when shopping at local branches of stores listed on cgive.org? At some of our merchants you can purchase gift cards online to use at their local stores and still earn the percentage listed. To find the merchants that allow this: simply select "Gift Cards" from the merchant search pull down menu on our shopping page. We also work with GiftCertificates.com. They offer of gift certificates to 100s of national stores. Please note the shipping charge will cut into your net percentage earned. The best way to unutilized this site is to order certificates available for email delivery which have no shipping charge. Top

How do I change to a different account type? You can change your account type by logging on to the "My Account" page and selecting the "change" link. Please note that all unpaid donations will now go to the charity or family you selected for this new account type. Top

Standard Account FAQ:

How do I know when my charity has been paid? When we mail the payment to your charity you will receive an email notification. This email will list the entire amount donated to your charity along with your personal contribution. Please remember to add the email address at the top of this page to your address book to ensure the messages sent by our server are not blocked by your junk mail filter. Top

When are payments made to my charity? Payments earned for charities through our standard giving accounts are made annually in the month of July. To be eligible for payment the combined total earned by all supporters of a specific charity must be greater than $25. If the total is less than $25 the donations will be carried over into the next period.

It is important to note that our fiscal shopping season runs from May 1 to April 30. For example if you make a purchase on April 30, 2008 the earnings will be included in the payments we distribute in July 2008. If you were to wait to make this purchase on May 1, 2008 your earnings would be paid in July 2009. There is a 2 month period between the end of the shopping year and when payments are distributed to allow your purchases to clear and us to receive payments. If for some reason we do not receive payment by July for a purchase that was made before the April 30 cut-off date we will have to carry your earnings over to the next pay period.

Why did we decide on these terms for payments? We decided to only make payments of $25 or more on an annual basis to help keep our operating costs low and simplify our book keeping. Top

How do I register my charity? What are the requirements? To register your charity click the "Register a Charity" link and fill out the form. We will review your charity and if we believe it operates in a manner consistent with the Christian principles our organization was founded to support it will be approved. The only other requirement is that the organization must be registered as tax exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. If you have previously made tax deductible donations to your organization it meets this requirement. Organizations or programs that are part of a larger organization that has tax exempt status will be considered. Top

How do I change the charity I donate to? You can change your charity by logging on to the "My Account" page. Please note that any unpaid donations in your account will go to your new charity. Your charity can be changed at anytime throughout the year right up until payments are made. Top

Can I donate to more than one charity? Our system only allows one charity per account. If you would like to donate to more than one organization you could sign up for another account under a different email address. You could also choose to change the charity you donate to each year. Top

Tuition Assistance Account FAQ:

How are payments made for the Tuition Assistance and Tuition Assistance Supporter Accounts? We mail your payment check directly to your home. It will be written out to the school you provided during registration. All you have to do is mail or drop off the check at your school and ask them to credit it to your tuition account.

If you have a Tuition Assistance Supporter Account your earnings will be automatically added to the payment of the family you help support. Top

When will I receive my tuition payment? Payments for Tuition Assistance accounts are made annually in the month of July. To be eligible for payment the combined total earned by you and all the supporters of your account must be greater than $25. If the total is less than $25 the donations will be carried over into the next period.

It is important to note that our fiscal shopping season runs from May 1 to April 30. For example if you make a purchase on April 30, 2008 the earnings will be included in the payments we distribute in July 2008. If you were to wait to make this purchase on May 1, 2008 your earnings would be paid in July 2009. There is 2 month time period between the end of the shopping season and when we make payments to allow all purchases to clear and us to receive payment. If for some reason we do not receive payment by July for a purchase that was made before the April 30 cut-off date we will have to carry your earnings over to the next pay period. Top

Can I start saving early for my child's tuition? To start saving early for your child's Christian School or college tuition simply clicking the "To Be Determined" link below the school form when you sign up for your Tuition Assistance Account. We will hold your payments in your account until your child starts school. To activate payments log on to the "My Account" page and select the "change your donation information" link. Then reregister your Tuition Assistance Account with the name of your child's school. Top

Can I sign up more than one child for the tuition Assistance account? Our system only allows one school per account. If you have children attending different Christian Schools and your earnings are greater than your tuition payment please email us and we can make special arrangements for your payment. Top

Which schools can the tuition Assistance program be used for? This program can be used to help pay tuition for any Christian school from preschool through high school. Christian college tuition is also eligible.

We chose the system of mailing Tuition Assistance checks directly to your home so it can easily be used for any Christian school regardless of size or number parents using our program. By operating our Tuition Assistance in this manner schools do need to add any additional staffing or programs when you use our service. The only difference your school will notice is that your tuition payment includes two separate checks. Top