Published June 22, 2004
By Monique Beeler
Oakland Tribune

Giving Back: Wedding Couples say "I do" to charity

In planning her wedding last May, Catherine Engberg didn't waste time picking out china and silver patterns. She and her husband-to-be, Tom Boardman, preferred setting up their wedding registry with JustGive.org (www.justgive.org), an Oakland-based Web site that encourages guests to give money in lieu of gifts to charities of the bride's and groom's choosing.

"We had lived together for a couple years and lived in a house and have all those amenities one might register for," says Engberg, 30, an attorney with an environmental and land use law firm. "Given our ages, we're in a different category than people getting married in their 20s."

After years of buying wedding presents for friends who had registered at department stores or popular retail chains, Engberg observed that many betrothed couples rejoice initially at all the ribbon-wrapped loot. But as the pile sprawls and the silver and white boxes reveal their contents, including multiples of nearly everything from bath towels to serving platters, the gift-getting orgy loses its luster.

"What do you do with five cast iron pans when you only have time to cook once a month?" says Engberg, who lives in Oakland.

In the year since JustGive.org introduced its wedding registry, about 300 couples have said "I do" to making their blessed union an occasion for giving to others. The service has helped funnel approximately $150,000 to nonprofit organizations, says founder and chief executive officer Kendall Webb.

Webb launched the main Web site four years ago as a convenient tool for people who want to give their time or money to the nation's 850,000 registered nonprofits. As soon as an organization signs up with the Internal Revenue Service for 501(c)3 nonprofit status, the group is automatically added to JustGive.org's list of eligible recipients.

So bridal couples may choose almost any philanthropic organization that tugs
at their heartstrings.

"People tend to pick animals and peace (organizations)," Webb says. "In general, people like to pick more celebratory charities. You don't see a lot of brain tumor foundations on wedding registries."

Engberg and Boardman, 36, a geotechnical engineer, chose charities to which
they had previous connections. Since Engberg had volunteered for a homeless advocacy project run by the Volunteer Legal Services Program in San Francisco, she added the program to their registry. And the couple had adopted their beloved 7-year-old border collie mix, Jack, from an animal rescue group, so they also included Hopalong Animal Rescue.

"It's a wonderful way to spread the joy of getting married," says Sarah Cohen, executive director for Oakland-based Hopalong. "It's a great (sign of) appreciation for the charities. It's also a novel idea that tickles the fancy of the gift givers. They like it."

Cohen says Hopalong has received a handful of contributions through JustGive.org, which has made the process simple for charities on the receiving end. All gifts from a given wedding party arrive in the form of a single check.

The Global Fund for Women, a foundation based in San Francisco that gives grants to women's human rights groups around the world, has also benefited from the service.

"We naturally welcome such donations, which also reach circles of (donors) whom we might not otherwise reach," says Leanne Grossman of the Global Fund for Women.

Last year, the nonprofit received $3,650 in donations through JustGive.org, a 55 percent increase over the previous year.

"JustGive.org and similar organizations give the public a great opportunity to derive satisfaction, not from consuming more but from giving more," Grossman says.

Most couples who use the site's wedding registry are in their late 20s and early 30s, Webb says. They don't fall into the highest income brackets, but they tend to have one or two sets of housewares already. Many engaged people who use the site also register elsewhere. Those who register exclusively with JustGive.org usually are in their later 30s, 40s or older or may be planning a wedding in a distant location, such as Jamaica, and don't want to be burdened with extra baggage.

"It's usually people who say, 'We want something more meaningful; we don't want these products sitting in boxes in the closet,'" Webb says.

Use of the registry is free to the nuptial pair, but wedding guests shopping at JustGive.org pay a $5 service fee in addition to their donation. A typical budget for a wedding gift falls in the $50 to $100 range, Webb says. Her staff also has noticed that because it's for charity, many wedding guests logging onto the site give up to $1,000 or more.

In addition to feeling good about their contribution, guests receive the benefit of a tax deduction and an automatically generated receipt.

"It's a very nice program," Webb says. "It's very easy for the gift giver to go on."

In another month or so, JustGive.org plans to offer a gift certificate option to wedding guests. Guests will purchase the certificate, then let the newlyweds choose the recipient.

Similar to ordering a teapot or tablecloth from a department store's online wedding registry, it takes only a few mouse clicks to fill out a donation request.

It was equally easy for Engberg to use. She's not super tech-savvy, she says, but she had no problem setting up her registry, including a brief page about her and Boardman featuring a photo of the couple and descriptions of their chosen charities.

A few years ago, some friends of the couple had a similar concept in mind for their wedding. Unfortunately, the pair had never heard of JustGive.org.

"I do have a friend who wanted so much for her guests to give to charity her husband designed a Web site," Engberg says. "(Afterward) she said, 'I can't
believe how much time we spent.'"

You can e-mail Monique Beeler at mbeeler@angnews-papers.com or call (925) 416-4860.