Adding a Beneficiary to Your Fundraiser? Here’s Everything You Need to Know

First of all, thank you for using Give A Hand to raise funds for someone in need. We aim to make your online fundraising effort as safe, easy, and seamless as possible.

Part of that process includes inviting a beneficiary to your fundraiser. As the organizer of a fundraiser you must designate either yourself or someone else (beneficiary) to receive the funds raised from the fundraiser. This can only be done once per fundraiser so i.e if the organizer has designated themself, they will not be able to invite a beneficiary since they already assigned themself as beneficiary. Another example would be if the organizer has designated someone else as the beneficiary, it cannot be changed later to a different beneficiary.

Key Highlights of Inviting a Beneficiary

If your fundraiser is created for the purpose of raising funds for someone else, adding that individual as a beneficiary is a great idea. But there are a few things to consider before doing so…

1. Adding a beneficiary gives that person the ability to transfer funds directly to their own account.
2. Before adding a beneficiary, make sure he or she is willing to add their bank information and handle the responsibility of transferring funds. They must also be willing to have their name associated with the fundraiser, as it will show on the fundraiser page.
3. No matter how funds will be received, we recommend adding these details to the fundraiser story for the sake of transparency. This is especially important if you will be receiving the funds on behalf of the individual for which the fundraiser has been created.
4. There can only be one beneficiary (and one bank account) per fundraiser. If the funds need to be split among multiple parties, consider receiving the funds on behalf of those individuals, then splitting and transferring the funds to them outside of Give A Hand.
5. The beneficiary must be a person. The funds cannot be directly transferred to a service provider, such as a veterinarian or funeral home, from Give A Hand. Instead, the funds must be transferred to an individual’s bank account, and the individual can then use the funds to pay for the service.

Also make sure the beneficiary you plan to invite meets all the requirements to receive funds:

• A government-issued driver’s license, state I.D., or passport
• A residential address within the country selected (this cannot be a PO box)
• A phone number belonging to the country of residence
• A bank account in your name located in your country
• A United States SSN or ITIN  (or equivalent for other countries)
• Must be 18 years of age or older

TIP: If the beneficiary is unable or unwilling to be responsible for the transferring of funds, consider receiving funds on their behalf, and later transferring those funds to the individual outside of Give A Hand.

Why You Should Consider Adding a Beneficiary

1. It’s the easiest and most secure way to get the funds to the person for which they were raised.
2. When donors know the funds are going directly to the beneficiary, they have more trust in the fundraiser and are more likely to complete the donation process.
3. It makes it faster and easier for the beneficiary to receive funds.

How to Invite a Beneficiary?

You will need the beneficiary's email address. It is very important to confirm that you have the correct email address for the beneficiary before sending the invitation, as the invitation link will be sent directly to that email. As the organizer, you are responsible for ensuring that all beneficiary information provided is accurate and up to date before sending the invitation. If an incorrect email address is entered, the invitation may be accepted by an unintended recipient.

Steps to Invite:

Once you have logged in to your Give A Hand account, select “My Fundraisers” from the menu located in the top-right corner. From there, find the fundraiser you would like to invite a beneficiary to and click “Manage.”

You should see a blue button labeled “Add Bank or Invite Beneficiary.” From there, follow the prompts to invite a beneficiary via email.

Once invited, the beneficiary will receive an email with an invitation link to accept the role. You may want to contact them directly to let them know to look out for an email from Give A Hand, as the invitation contains a link that is only valid for 15 days.

If the invitation is not accepted within 15 days, you will need to cancel the invitation by visiting the Transfer page and then send a new invitation.

If you have troubles with this, please reach out to our support team.