This op-ed is a guest post written by Katie Hultquist, Director of Leadership Giving at OutRight Action International. Founded in 1990, OutRight Action International is a leading global human rights organization dedicated to protecting and advancing the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) people around the world. You can follow Katie on Twitter at @kghultquist.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) communities are among the most marginalized globally and face persecution, discrimination and violence around the world. Sixty-seven countries still criminalize same sex relations, 50 countries criminalize trans people explicitly or implicitly, and only seven countries ban harmful conversion practices. Yet—despite these challenges and being massively under-resourced—our global movement for the human rights of LGBTIQ people has made tremendous progress in the last few decades. In fact, there are now organizations fighting for LGBTIQ equality in the majority of the countries on the planet.

A year ago, during Pride month, OutRight Action International began accepting donations of cryptocurrency through The Giving Block. Why? Because we believe we have a tremendous opportunity to radically accelerate social and legal change for LGBTIQ people around the world and ensure that the progress we’ve made is not lost. However, to keep advancing equality everywhere, we need more allies to join us. Just $0.28 of every $100 given by foundations in the US target LGBTIQ groups and issues. And globally, less than half the total funding for LGBTIQ issues goes to programs outside the US and Canada. So OutRight is dedicated to searching for new and innovative ways to uplift and support the global LGBTIQ community, including partnerships in the web3 space.

Since OutRight started working with The Giving Block and accepting donations of crypto, the amount of support we’ve received has been phenomenal. We have truly been inspired by the many artists, creators, collectors, donors and investors who’ve supported and contributed to our mission.

For example, several generative NFT projects have selected OutRight as a charity partner. Our largest donation through The Giving Block to date came from Not Your Bro, a project which centers on the empowerment and celebration of all Womxn and LGBTQIA+ people and dedicated 2.5% of their initial mint sales to OutRight. Natalie, the artist behind the project said: “As proud members of the LGBTQIA+ community, we know first-hand the daily struggles of living your truth. As founders and gay women ourselves it would be an honour to support OutRight.”

Another success has been connecting with 1/1 NFT artists and collectors who care about LGBTIQ rights. One of our most loyal supporters has been Lori Grace Bailey, a photographer, curator and host in the web3 space who has already auctioned three of her photographs to raise funds for OutRight. Lori shared: “Having donated close to 3 ETH over the last several months to OutRight has meant the world to me, and that’s why I keep coming back. Even a little NFT artist like myself can make impactful change, you just have to believe that you matter and so do those you’re helping.”

Most recently, the web3 community has stepped up to support OutRight’s Ukraine Fund, which provides humanitarian relief to LGBTIQ people in Ukraine and neighboring countries impacted by the war. We are proud to be a part of The Giving Block’s Ukraine Emergency Response Fund, and grateful to be a beneficiary of RELI3F, an initiative with renowned artists and collectors dedicated to Ukraine relief.

We’ve also received many smaller, and equally important, donations from individual donors in a variety of cryptocurrencies. As with any effective fundraising strategy, it takes time and effort to build awareness and nurture these relationships. Nonetheless, early ROI has proven that working with The Giving Block is helping OutRight reach new global, young, tech-savvy, creative audiences who share our values and care deeply about social change and equality for all people.

Looking ahead, OutRight and our community are excited to celebrate #PrideWithAPurpose throughout June—Pride month—with several partners in the web3 space, including MetaPride Land, Power of Women, Hackatao, ConsenSys, HUG, Not Your Bro, Avius Animae, and others.

We are extremely grateful for the incredible support we’ve received from donors leveraging NFTs and crypto, and from the team at The Giving Block, who have been very helpful and supportive at every turn. Crypto Philanthropy is having a significant impact on OutRight’s work, allowing us to pioneer groundbreaking research about our community, provide tangible, vital support to grassroots LGBTIQ activists and organizations around the world, and advocate for LGBTIQ human rights at United Nations headquarters and beyond. We are looking forward to continuing to work with web3 partners and donors to radically accelerate human rights and equality for all LGBTIQ+ people, everywhere.

Learn more about how cryptocurrency donations are aiding OutRight Action International’s quest for global human rights by reading the organization’s case study. 

We first registered The Giving Block LLC on May 22, 2018. At the time, I was a management consultant, Pat was working at the Lupus Foundation of America and crypto was entering a major bear market that would see bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies drop over 80% in value. What better time to convince people to donate crypto, right?

There were very few nonprofits accepting cryptocurrency donations in 2018. Even those that did often only accepted bitcoin and didn’t heavily promote their crypto donation option. In launching The Giving Block, we set out to create a new category we called “Crypto Philanthropy,” with a mission of making crypto the greatest force for good on the planet.

How It All Started

The thesis behind The Giving Block was that crypto adoption would continue to grow and that the passionate community of crypto users would become an incredibly valuable donor demographic for nonprofits. Not only would these donors be relatively wealthy if crypto took off, but they would skew much younger than the average donor. With Pat’s nonprofit background, we knew how important it was for nonprofits to diversify their fundraising revenue and engage young donors. The latter was especially true for large nonprofit organizations with older donor bases that generally have an average age of over 50.

The Pineapple Fund also had an outsized impact on the motivation to launch The Giving Block. In December 2017, the Pineapple Fund donated over $56M worth of bitcoin to 60 different nonprofits. For many of these nonprofits, it was their first time accepting a bitcoin donation. Today, nearly all of those nonprofits work with The Giving Block and have played a big role in informing the design of our crypto fundraising products and services.

We spent the first year speaking to nonprofits that were accepting cryptocurrency donations and learning everything we could about how to best serve them while still working our day jobs. It became immediately clear that just creating an easy way to accept crypto donations for nonprofits wouldn’t be enough.

Coinbase Commerce, BitPay, BitGive and others were already in-market helping nonprofits accept cryptocurrency donations. But no one was helping nonprofits connect with crypto donors. Nonprofits weren’t talking to crypto donors and crypto donors weren’t talking to nonprofits – they lived in two entirely different worlds. Accepting crypto was easy, but fundraising crypto was hard and needed its own comprehensive solution and playbook.

To meet the needs of nonprofits and donors, we focused our energy on being the best at two things: (1) Equipping nonprofits with the technology, strategy and support to easily and effectively fundraise crypto, and (2) Empowering donors to give crypto to nonprofits they love worldwide. We did this by developing the first all-in-one crypto fundraising solution for nonprofits that includes both a reliable payment processor to securely accept crypto donations (without additional operational burden or headcount required) and crypto fundraising education, strategic guidance and technical support to maximize fundraising outcomes.

To bring these communities closer together, we built a crypto donation marketplace that makes it easy for donors to learn about and give crypto to thousands of crypto-friendly nonprofits. In the process, we launched Bag Season (our answer to Giving Season), Crypto Giving Tuesday, the Crypto Giving Pledge and other initiatives aimed at growing the nascent Crypto Philanthropy category by deepening the connection between nonprofits and crypto donors.

Where We Go From Here

Today, The Giving Block works with thousands of nonprofits and has raised over $100 million in crypto donations for causes around the world. Our growth has been consistent through crypto bull and bear markets, fueled by the innovative spirit of our nonprofits and the incredible generosity of the crypto and NFT communities.

Backed by our parent company, Shift4, we’ve also started work to bring crypto donations and payments to their massive network of 200,000+ merchants around the world, accelerating mainstream crypto adoption and growing the global footprint of crypto philanthropy.

It’s been four years, but we’re still early. Crypto Philanthropy is just getting started and along with Shift4, The Giving Block team will be working harder than ever to bring innovative solutions to our nonprofits and donors as we strive to make crypto the greatest force for good on the planet.

Alex Wilson & Pat Duffy
Co-Founders, The Giving Block

The Miami Impact Index Fund will Allow Donors to Give Crypto to Numerous Local Nonprofits with One Donation

We are thrilled to announce the launch of the “Miami Impact Index Fund,” a first-of-it-kind fund that enables donors to give to numerous local nonprofit organizations with a single crypto donation. This the first time that The Giving Block has worked directly with a city to highlight local charities through its nonprofit cryptocurrency fundraising platform.

The Miami Impact Index Fund will allow donors to donate to all Miami area nonprofits on The Giving Block’s platform with one donation. All donations to the fund will be split evenly to all participating causes. Participating causes include: Chapman Partnership, Jackson Health Foundation, Legal Services of Greater Miami, Nicklaus Children’s Health System, NU Deco Ensemble Inc., Third Wave Volunteers Inc., and United Way Miami, among others.

The Giving Block also brings crypto philanthropy to Miami through a partnership with The Miami Foundation for “Give Miami Day” on November 17th, allowing donors to give crypto for the first time since the event’s inception in 2012.

To support the nonprofits participating in the Miami Impact Index Fund, visit the fund’s donation page:

Tune into Episode 32 of the Civic Warriors Podcast, with The Giving Block’s Co-Founder Alex Wilson.

The podcast, hosted by Withum, brings on leaders in the nonprofit industry to share their stories and experiences that have shaped their perspectives. It aims to “bring the conversation to our listeners, sharing relatable stories that motivate and build consensus in the nonprofit community.”

During the episode, The Giving Block’s Co-Founder Alex Wilson discusses the rise of Crypto Philanthropy, the increasingly important role of crypto donors in today’s fundraising landscape, and ways that The Giving Block supports nonprofits in accepting cryptocurrency donations.

Civic Warriors Podcast: Episode 32

Insight on Cryptocurrency with Alex Wilson of The Giving Block

Release Date: March 8, 2022
Time: 28 Minutes

About Civic Warriors Podcast
Leaders in the nonprofit industry share their stories from the front lines of adversity. Where innovation meets determination, they withstand all odds to drive their mission forward and effect change. Each story’s unique, each struggle’s worth the fight, but the goal is constant – to make an impact. Join us on our journey to find the stories that are hidden beneath the corporate veil. Our guests open up on how they try, fail and overcome in their fight to fulfill their mission. Through their experiences, we can join forces to become civic warriors in our communities.

The Giving Block is excited to announce that we’re adding support for more cryptocurrencies in our Donation Form and fundraising platform. This week, we have added support for DeFi Pulse Index (DPI), Lido (LDO), Liquity (LQTY), Liquity USD (LUSD), Maple Finance (MPL) and Rally (RLY). These tokens join a growing list of cryptocurrencies that nonprofits can accept with the fundraising tools and services powered by The Giving Block.

DeFi Pulse Index (DPI)

Defi Pulse Index is an ERC-20 token that was designed to track the performance of the tokens within the decentralized finance industry. DPI aims to “provide exposure to DeFi through one single asset.” DPI tracks projects that have significant usage with a commitment to maintenance and ongoing development within the DeFi Community. DPI isn’t a synthetic or derivative asset; holders can swap DPI for the tokens that comprise the capitalization weighted index.

www.defipulse.com

Lido (LDO)

LDO is an ERC-20 governance token used on Lido, a liquid staking solution for proof-of-stake blockchains like Ethereum, Solana, and Terra. Lido enables users to stake any amount of their ETH and other supported tokens, with no minimum deposit. Lido lets users stake their tokens to gain yield through collateral, lending, yield farming and more. LDO is also used to reward various DAO users and activities including grants, referral program payouts, and bug bounties.

lido.fi

Liquity (LQTY)

LQTY is a decentralized borrowing protocol ERC-20 token built on the Ethereum network. LQTY is a secondary token issued by the Liquity protocol incentivizing frontend operators and early adopters. Liquity can be earned in three different ways, depositing Liquity USD (LUSD) into the stability pool, facilitating stability pool deposits through the holders frontend, or providing liquidity to the LUSD: ETH Uniswap pool. LQTY holders can stake their tokens to earn the fees generated by loan issuance.

www.liquity.org

Liquity USD (LUSD)

LUSD is a USD-pegged ERC-20 stablecoin compliant with the Ethereum Network used to pay loans in the Liquity protocol. Liquity is a decentralized borrowing protocol that authorizes its holders to draw 0% interest loans against their Ethereum (ETH) used as collateral. This allows users to acquire liquidity for free without any recurring cost. Holders can deposit LUSD tokens into the stability pool, which in turn makes the system more vigorous against ETH price drops.

www.liquity.org

Maple Finance (MPL)

MPL is the governance token of Maple Protocol. MPL is an ERC-20 token that empowers holders to participate in governance as well as earning fees and allows them to stake to the lending pools. MPL holders are able to vote on changes to the protocol, such as burning or minting MPL tokens, adjusting fees, etc. The staking pool system that Maple Finance has for their lenders creates economic security by allowing them to deposit liquidity to receive balancer pool tokens (BPTs) to provide first-loss capital.

www.maple.finance

Rally (RLY)

RLY is an ERC-20 Governance token which enables content creators to launch fully customizable tokens of their own. This allows the creators to monetize their following without transaction and platform fees. RLY allows for a direct connection between creators and supporters with their own independent digital economies. RLY also provides community activity rewards as an incentive to actively engage on their platform.

rally.io

How to Donate DPI, LDO, LQTY, LUSD, MPL and RLY to Charity.

With this latest update, more than 1,400 nonprofits, universities, faith-based and other mission-oriented organizations can now accept DeFi Pulse Index, Lido, Liquity, Liquity USD, Maple Finance and Rally donations on The Giving Block Donation Form and platform. Donors looking to support an organization or cause that’s important to them with DeFi Pulse Index, Lido, Liquity, Liquity USD, Maple Finance and Rally can do so by browsing nonprofits and Impact Index Funds and selecting DeFi Pulse Index, Lido, Liquity, Liquity USD, Maple Finance or Rally in the Donation Form when completing the transaction.

The Giving Block is excited to announce that we’re adding support for Saber (SBR) and Raydium (RAY) in our Donation Form and fundraising platform. Saber and Raydium joins a growing list of more than 70 cryptocurrencies that nonprofits can accept with the fundraising tools and services powered by The Giving Block.

Saber (SBR)

Saber is an SPL token compliant with the Solana network, with a maximum supply of 10,000,000,000 SBR coins. SBR is a decentralized exchange (DEX) for stablecoin swaps built on Solana, which allows for low fee swaps of USD stablecoins. Saber functions similarly with the Curve protocol on Ethereum and has two primary use cases, staking for governance, and incentivizing pools to maintain liquidity in stableswap pairs.

Raydium (RAY)

Raydium is an SPL token compliant with the Solana Network with a circulating supply of 90,655,642 RAY coins. RAY is an automated market maker (AMM) and liquidity provider developed on the Solana blockchain for the Serum decentralized exchange (DEX). RAY has 4 primary use cases, liquidity incentivization, participation in AcceleRaytor, market making fee capture, and governance. Unlike other AMMs, RAY enables users to have on-chain liquidity to a central limit order book, providing users options to place Limit Orders, Market Orders, and more.

How to Donate RAY and SBR to Charity

With this latest update, more than 1,400 nonprofits, universities, faith-based and other mission-oriented organizations can now accept Raydium and Saber donations on The Giving Block Donation Form and platform. Donors looking to support an organization or cause that’s important to them with Raydium and Saber can do so by browsing nonprofits and Impact Index Funds and selecting Raydium or Saber in the Donation Form when completing the transaction.

The Giving Block is excited to announce that we’re adding support for ApeCoin (APE) in our Donation Form and fundraising platform. ApeCoin joins a growing list of more than 70 cryptocurrencies that nonprofits can accept with the fundraising tools and services powered by The Giving Block.

ApeCoin (APE)

ApeCoin (APE) is an ERC-20 governance and utility token compliant with the Ethereum network. Launched by Yuga Labs, the creative group behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), one of the most well-known NFT projects to date, APE will be the primary token for new BAYC-related products. Additional use cases include governance within the ApeCoin DAO, incentives for developers participating in the APE ecosystem, and the ability for participants to use a currency that can be used without centralized intermediaries.

How to Donate ApeCoin to Charity

With this latest update, more than 1,400 nonprofits, universities, faith-based and other mission-oriented organizations can now accept ApeCoin donations on The Giving Block Donation Form and platform. Donors looking to support an organization or cause that’s important to them with ApeCoin can do so by browsing nonprofits and Impact Index Funds and selecting ApeCoin in the Donation Form when completing the transaction.

After months of behind-the-scenes work, we are excited to announce today the launch of The Giving Block Institutional, a premium service tailored to meet the unique cryptocurrency donation needs of institutional clients. This new suite of fully-customizable solutions will empower these clients to deliver best-in-class cryptocurrency donation experiences.

The idea for The Giving Block Institutional came out of a series of conversations with institutional organizations. As more of them shared their interest in accepting cryptocurrency charitable contributions, we took note and got to work, trying to find solutions to their most pressing challenges.

Cryptocurrency and Institutional Philanthropy

Crypto Philanthropy has so far been challenging for institutions, as they face increased regulations on accepting and reporting charitable contributions, and while many of them work with numerous advisors to manage different aspects of their charitable work, a limited number have the ability to navigate cryptocurrency-related matters effectively.

To help institutional clients with these challenges, The Giving Block Institutional’s services will include:

• Custom solutions for large or special handling transactions
• API integration with existing contribution workflows
• Consultations to help client-facing advisors with crypto conversations and planning sessions

The Giving Block Institutional enables the secure and compliant acceptance of cryptocurrencies as donations with the option to immediately convert crypto to U.S. dollars, saving organizations time and money. Our institutional-grade infrastructure reduces risk and provides constant monitoring of transactions by an experienced team, backed by white-glove customer support.

Whether an institution seeks to make contributions to its favorite nonprofit organization or accept donations, The Giving Block Institutional will provide expertise and solutions.

Find out more about The Giving Block Institutional’s solutions and offerings: