What are the fees for using an Eastern Give for Good charitable giving account?
Zero! It’s free. And your chosen charities receive 100% of your charitable gift (unlike with certain traditional giving accounts)!
How do I contribute funds to my Eastern Give for Good charitable giving account?1
You can add money directly from within the Eastern Give for Good account and pay with a variety of credit cards, debit cards or bank accounts of your choice. You can also pay through an Eastern account or with your Eastern Bank debit card.
What is the minimum deposit to open an account?
There isn’t one, and there are also no fees (compared to traditional Donor-Advised Funds where the minimum could be as high as $25,000, including fees). This is an amazing and accessible opportunity for managing giving.
How does an Eastern Give for Good charitable giving account differ from a Donor Advised Fund (DAF)?
Most DAFs have a significant minimum amount required to open (sometimes as high as $25,000) and charge balance-based fees. Eastern Give for Good has no minimum (or maximum) and is free to you as an Eastern Bank customer. There are no fees and the charity gets 100% of your contribution. Eastern Give for Good is also designed with donors in mind, making it easy to find and discover great organizations and providing fun, social capabilities built into the experience.
What is the minimum or maximum deposit that I can make into my account?
There aren’t any.
Is there a minimum amount that I need to give each year?
No, it’s totally up to you.
Can I withdraw funds from my Eastern Give for Good account?
No. Once you move funds into your Eastern Give for Good account they are donated to America’s Charities and you will receive a tax receipt from America’s Charities. You can then use the funds to give to millions of causes.
What are some ways customers use Eastern Give for Good?
- To plan their giving for the year or make either one-time or recurring contributions ;
- To digitize and simplify their giving experience ;
- As one central resource for all their giving activity;
- As a donor-advised-fund (without the fees!) with the benefit of researching and giving to millions of causes;
- To search, browse or find great organizations to support. This includes the ability to give to very specific causes such as a friend’s charitable run or a specific department; and
- To interact with others who give, allowing other Eastern Bank customers to ‘chip-in’ to their gifts, or sharing their contributions by email / on social media.
How exactly do Eastern Give for Good accounts work on the backend?
When you add funds to your Eastern Give for Good account, the funds are contributed to America’s Charities, a foundation that supports non-profits and charities. Once you choose to distribute the funds to a particular charity (there are over a million in our database), the funds are transferred from America’s Charities to the charity you chose. America’s Charities issues you a tax receipt when you add funds to the Eastern Give for Good account – so you don’t have to wait until you have chosen a charity to receive a tax receipt.
This structure is similar to a donor-advised fund, which is an account for charitable giving that offers an immediate tax benefit and the flexibility to support your preferred charities right away or over time. Best of all, unlike traditional donor-advised funds or giving platforms, with the Eastern Give for Good account you pay no fees and the ultimate charity receives 100% of your donation.
Who are Pinkaloo and America’s Charities?
Pinkaloo Technologies Inc. is Eastern Bank’s third-party service provider and they enable charitable accounts for financial institutions. America’s Charities (also known as Charities.org) is a non-profit foundation that issues your tax receipt when you fund your Eastern Give for Good account. When you decide where you want to send funds, America’s Charities works with Pinkaloo to send each distribution to each chosen charity. Additions to your Eastern Give for Good account will appear on your statement as a transfer to “Charities.Org.”
1. If for any reason an initial transfer is rejected, we will try to execute this transaction for you three times. You may be assessed fees by your financial institution if there are insufficient funds in your account.
What is the minimum amount I can give to a charity?
$10.
How do I add funds to my Eastern Give for Good account and how will this show up in my payment history?
Log in and click on the plus (+) sign. Decide if you want to make a one-time or recurring contribution, and click ‘manage’ to add your preferred cards and bank accounts. This will appear as a transaction to “Charities.Org” in your payment history.
What payment methods can I use to fund my account?
Pay with nearly any card or bank account, including your Eastern Bank card or account. If you chose to sync your Eastern Bank debit card during enrollment, it will be listed in your payment methods.
When will I receive my tax receipt?
After adding funds to your account, you’ll promptly receive a tax receipt from America’s Charities. You can access the tax receipt at any time in your Documents within Eastern Give for Good and you’ll also receive an end of year summary!
Will I receive an acknowledgment after I send funds to a charity of my choice?
Yes! You’ll receive an acknowledgment after your funds reach the charity you’ve chosen to support. Go to ‘my activity’ from the main menu to view these and a summary of your giving activity over time. Please note distributions may take as few as 5 days or up to 30 or more days to be processed, depending on a number of factors including the charity’s payment processes.
How long will it take for the charity to receive funds?
Beginning in June, you’ll receive an acknowledgment once funds have been sent to the charity of your choice. Funds are generally processed between 5 and 30 or more days. If you have not received an acknowledgment after 30 days, contact us as set forth at the end of the FAQs.
How do I browse or search for a specific charity or nonprofit?
Eastern Give for Good is designed to help you easily find your preferred charities or discover new ones. Once in your account, click ‘discover’ from the main menu. Search by name, EIN, keyword, category or location to find nonprofits you’re passionate about. Browse results or click into any charity to find more information / links to their social media pages.
How do I give to charity?
After funding your account and finding a nonprofit you want to support, click ‘donate now’. Specify how often and how much you want to give. Choosing ‘Donate now’ or ‘make a donation’ means that funds will be transferred from your Eastern Give for Good account to your chosen charity. Choose whether you want your gift included on the giving feed, and if you want to share your name and email address with the charity. Confirm the details and once ready, click ‘make donation.’ Just like that your gift is on the way. Feel free to share with friends / family on social media or email to spread the word.
Can I give to: support a specific project, give in someone’s honor / memory, or support a friend’s campaign (like a walk/run or bike ride)?
After selecting an amount to distribute to the charity, click ‘write a purpose’ and provide the appropriate details for the project or describe who you’re honoring. When ready, click ‘make donation.’ The charity will direct your funds as specified in the purpose field.
Note: If you’re contributing to a friend’s campaign, tell them. Most crowdfunding sites allow the administrator, your friend, to add ‘offline donations.’ Tell them you given so they can add it to their campaign.
How can I access my giving history?
Eastern Give for Good remembers your giving history for you. To access it, go to the main menu and click ‘giving feed.’ Once you’re there go to ‘my activity.’ You’ll have a view into your history of deposits into the Eastern Give for Good account, distributions, dollars given, and charities supported.
What if I donate to charity outside of my Eastern Give for Good account?
Eastern Give for Good can still help you track your donations. Just upload your tax receipt to your ‘tax documents’ page by clicking the ‘upload tax receipt’ button.
What information is shared with the charity about me?
You can decide whether your distribution to your chosen charity is anonymous or if you’d like the charity to receive your name and email. When giving to a specific charity, you have the option to check off the box next to ‘share name and email with charity’.
My company offers matches. What documents might I want to submit to help them match my donations and distributions made through Eastern Give for Good?
We suggest providing your company with your tax receipt(s) from America’s Charities and the acknowledgment of each distribution to a charity. Together, the tax receipt(s) and acknowledgment (s) confirm that you donated to America’s Charities and instructed the foundation to distribute funds to the charity or charities you supported. Access your receipt(s) and acknowledgment (s) under ‘documents’ from the main menu.
What information does the Eastern Give for Good charity database provide?
For larger organizations, you will find overviews of charity missions, location, official registration details (such as the EIN), financial standing (assets, income and revenue) and links to available websites and social accounts. Our real-time giving feed is also a good resource for you to see how many people have donated to specific charities.
Can I give to any charity that I want?
Your account allows you to support over a million charities in the U.S. Some small churches, schools, hospitals and other organizations may not be available in the database. Giving directly to those organizations and uploading the receipt is the best approach. If you can’t find a charity that you are searching for, contact us.
What is special about the six highlighted charities under Eastern Give for Good’s ‘Discover’ section?
These are impactful organizations that provide services to communities we serve. Eastern Bank and the Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation support over 1,600 organizations each year and work hard to ensure a meaningful selection to highlight across our geographic footprint. Some non-profit customers may wonder why they are not featured. It’s worth remembering that this is a new program, and our featured non-profits will be rotated periodically. We fully expect to be able to include more non-profits going forward. We encourage you to check the database (by clicking ‘discover’ from the main menu) where you can filter, find and discover charities you’re passionate about.
What are other account features I should know about? Are there any that can help me raise money for charity?
Yes – you can activate ‘chip-ins’ to allow other Eastern Bank customers to add to what you’ve distributed to charity. To do this, just share your distribution on the giving feed and set a delayed execution date for your donation. If you want to raise awareness about an organization or let others in your circle know about your distribution / Eastern Give for Good, you can share about your donation immediately after you make it via email or social media.
What is the giving feed and how do people use it?
The feed shows distributions made by customers who’ve made their contributions public. Many use the giving feed to see where other people are giving, ‘chip-in’ to others’ distributions or to allow others to chip-in to donations they themselves make.
How can I give Eastern Bank feedback about this product?
Our product and digital teams are EAGER to engage with customers. It is our goal to learn and improve using your feedback; in fact, you will notice slight changes to the platform made over time as a result of customer feedback, or in effort to improve your experience. If you would like to share feedback / ideas / experiences with our team, please email easternlabs@easternbank.com. If you have a customer support issue, however, please contact our customer support team at 1-800-EASTERN (327-8376).
What if I decide to close my Eastern Give for Good account?
No problem, call the Eastern Bank customer support team and we will help you close your account. Details for how to contact us are at the end of the FAQs.
If I leave Eastern Bank will I be able to keep my Eastern Give for Good account?
Yes, just contact the Eastern Bank customer support team whose details are at the end of these FAQs. They will help transition to a Pinkaloo Modern Giving account that you can access via Pinkaloo’s site or mobile app.
On Eastern Give for Good specific questions:
Email Eastern Labs at easternlabs@easternbank.com to speak to an Eastern Bank employee. Alternatively, use the Live Chat function within your Eastern Give for Good account for the quickest response by clicking on the orange chat bubble on the bottom right corner of your screen (or by clicking on the question mark in the upper right-hand corner) – this will connect you to a member of the Pinkaloo team, not Eastern Bank.
On any other Eastern Bank (non-Eastern Give for Good) related questions:
Call us at 1-800-EASTERN (327-8376) anytime Monday - Friday from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM, or Saturday from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Or email us your full name and inquiry at info@easternbank.com. When communicating with us via e-mail, please do not send any information that is considered confidential or sensitive in nature (for example, social security number or account number). Please feel free to contact us by phone.