Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is MyLocalCause.com? 
MyLocalCause.com LLC is a company dedicated to helping individuals raise funds and awareness for their favorite non-profits, schools and local causes, which do not have to be 501(c)3. 

2. How do I blog on MyLocalCause.com? 
Please use the following tutorials to guide you through the Wordpress blogging system.

Blog Tutorial 1: Posts and Pages 
Blog Tutorial 2: Editing Your Blog 

3. How does MyLocalCause.com help individuals help raise funds for their favorite cause? 
You can create a FREE blog on MyLocalCause.com and add text, graphics and video describing why you care about your favorite non-profit, school. Promote your blog to your supporters and they can make a donation and/or buy items from leading retailers to generate commissions that you can donate to your designated cause. 

4. How do affiliate ads work? 
When your supporters buy a product or service using an affiliate ad link to one of the leading retailers listed, a commission is generated, anywhere from 1%-75%, though typically about 5%. 

5. How do I get paid?
Every quarter, each cause with $50 or more commissions will be paid via check (for public causes with a valid address) or via PayPal for private causes.  If your blog has less than $50, your account will roll over until the next quarter.

6. How is MyLocalCause.com LLC different from iGive.com or similar sites? Other loyalty programs oriented towards non-profits typically keep half or more of the commissions that they earn. For example, iTunes pays a 5% commission on sales and while iGive.com only gives the charity a 2% commission according to its website. MyLocalCause.com pays out 3.75%, or 75% of the total commission dollars rather than 40-50%. . This is because we are a "social business" with a primary goal of raising funds and awareness for people who are passionate about non-profits, schools and local causes (they do not have to be 501(c)3). Though MyLocalCause.com would like to make some profit, YOU, the non-profit are more important than us, so you are paid 3 times the commission that we take. After all, you are doing the hard work of rallying your supporters to buy items using our the affiliate ads. 

7. How can MyLocalCause.com help non-profits, schools and causes raise funds? 
As a service, we offer you a free webpage that you can use as another platform to inform the public and advocate your cause. Your cause can link to bloggers who support your cause and pledge their commissions. Your cause can also set up a donation box using Network for Good or PayPal, or a web code from another donation system. You can help raise funds by encouraging your supports to create individual blogs and then pledging their commissions to be donated towards your cause. If you have dozens, hundreds or even thousands of supporters, commissions on their monthly purchases could really add up. We encourage non-profits not to have ads on their page unless it relates to your mission.
 
8. How can individuals encourage their friends to donate to their favorite non-profit? 
We encourage users to use a PayPal button or create a Network for Good donation badge on their blog (or add one if it is not up already). Network for Good is a highly regarded non-profit that has raised over $100 million for non-profits. They charge a fee 4.75% or less on funds donated to cover the credit card processing and overhead. (You still should get the full tax deduction.) Note that MyLocalCause.com LLC does not charge any fees and we do not store or process any of your credit card information. If your favorite organization is not registered with Network for Good, contact them and tell them to sign up for a free account. [MyLocalCause.com is a fan of Network for Good, but we are not affiliated or endorsed by them.] 

9. How can individuals encourage their friends to donate to their favorite cause that is not a non-profit? 
We encourage users to register at ChipIn.com and copy their application’s code into a Text Box widget in your blog. 

10. So is MyLocalCause.com really FREE? 
YES! You get a FREE blog and method for accepting donations and earning money through affiliate ads. (Your donations have a 4.75% fee for credit card processing, but that is by Network for Good and is beyond our control.) Your affiliate ad revenue will be 75% of the total commissions generated from your site.

11. Any restrictions on causes? . MyLocalCause.com LLC reserves the right to remove any cause for any reason. Any cause blog that is sexist, racist, encourages violence or terrorism, is obscene or otherwise objectionable will be removed. Political campaigns, political parties, and political action committees are not eligible to be cause blogs and will not receive any commissions. Any blog that is political in nature and any blog that promotes or suggests that "The commissions are paid to me ‘Self’, but I will donate them to Politician X’s campaign." is also unacceptable. Any cause and/or blog material that promotes or supports terrorism is not allowed and will be removed immediately. 

12. Can I keep the commissions for myself? 
Yes. So that donated commissions can be considered actual donations, you have the possibility of creating a blog that allows you to keep commissions for yourself. The name of the company and website is MyLocalCause.com and we encourage everyone to have a local cause that they support. Our main purpose is to enable people to help their favorite non-profits and schools. Even if the money is going to ‘Self’, we encourage you to frame this as a positive, personal cause such as "Help Emily Have a Dream Vacation in Hawaii", "Support Jake’s College Fund", or "Love BBQ? Help Pay for Jim’s New Grill!" that you would be proud to promote to family and friends. For clarity, your blog’s header will list your specified cause: if you want to support a different cause, then create a new blog for that cause.