Use your City of Houston network credentials to log on to Bright Funds at https://cityofhouston.brightfunds.org.
Chose My Donations from the menu on the top left.
Chose Record a Donation from the menu at the top right.
Enter in the nonprofit name or EIN. For schools, view the How to search for U.S. schools FAQ, for instructions. Once you’ve found your organization, choose Select.
Enter the donation date and donation amount.
Upload the receipt.
Choose Record Donation, to complete the process.
At the time of your initial donation, you would have received a donation receipt in your email immediately upon making the donation from Bright Funds.
You may also collect those receipts for your records.
Learn how easy it is to sign on to Bright Funds with single sign on.
Having trouble finding your nonprofit? If they are an eligible U.S.-based 501(c)(3) Public Charity or public school, they will likely be in Bright Funds’ database! Here are a few pro tips from our team to help you find your nonprofit faster on Bright Funds.
There are two ways to search for your nonprofits on Bright Funds: by name, or by their EIN (unique tax-ID number). The EIN is a nine-digit number that can help you find your nonprofit quickly! A few common places to find your nonprofit’s EIN: a donation receipt, the nonprofit’s website, Google, Charity Navigator or Candid (a database of nonprofits confirmed through the IRS database).
If you are not able to find your nonprofit via their EIN, visit our article on How to get your U.S. nonprofit added into Bright Funds.
If your U.S. nonprofit it noted as “not eligible” in Bright Funds, please refer to our article on Nonprofit Eligibility Requirements, “How can I get my U.S. nonprofit back as eligible”. You can also reach out to our team at support@brightfunds.org, and we can help identify the reason why your nonprofit is not eligible.
Try switching up your search terms. Searching for a few variations, as well as trying different parts of the nonprofit’s name, will widen your search net and help you catch the nonprofit you want!
When you’re searching for a specific nonprofit or branch of a nonprofit and getting way too many results, try narrowing it down by using our filters
You can filter by cause, country, state and city.
You can give tax-deductible donations directly to U.S.-based public schools. On Bright Funds’ search page, you’ll see a gray toggle on the left side with options to search for Nonprofits, Schools, or Funds.
Select Public schools, and search by the school’s name or their NCES School ID. Just like searching for nonprofits by EIN, searching public schools by their NCES ID can help you find them faster and more easily.
Although you can give directly to public schools on Bright Funds, many schools also have an associated PTA, Alumni Association, or Boosters Club authorized to raise funds for them. Since these types of supporting nonprofits are considered actual nonprofits (not schools) you’ll find PTAs by searching in the Nonprofits category on Bright Funds and using their EIN. The best way to find out whether you should give directly to the school or the PTA is by contacting the school’s administrators.
Private schools and colleges are also listed under the Nonprofits category on Bright Funds.
In most cases, colleges can found under a Foundation entity in Bright Funds.
If you’re having trouble finding your school, PTA or fundraising nonprofit, contact support@brightfunds.org and we can help!
Some religious nonprofits are eligible to receive tax-deductible donations but are not required to file taxes in the same way that other 501(c)(3) public charities are required to do.
If you have searched for your nonprofit via name and EIN (see tips above), and the entity is not appearing, the nonprofit will need to register with Candid as a religious entity. Doing so will make the nonprofit eligible to receive donations and matching gifts on Bright Funds.
Please contact the nonprofit and provide them with this how-to article from Candid on how to get listed – the nonprofit will need to send certain documentation to Candid at support@candid.org. Candid will follow up and list them in their database should the documents meet their eligibility criteria.
Once you find your eligible nonprofit in Bright Funds, you can record your support, whether it is donating or volunteering time.
Questions regarding finding your nonprofit? Please reach out to support@brightfunds.org, and our team can assist.
You can also download a QR code from the nonprofit’s page to print posters or share with colleagues to promote your nonprofit and their mission. The QR code icon can be found in the top right corner of the nonprofit’s page, which will allow you to download the code.
Want to organize an fund for your fundraiser? You can find the steps here!
Organizing a volunteer event is easy to do. Prior to creating your event, be sure to coordinate the event details with the nonprofit beforehand!
The first section details your event! This section includes:
Share when your event will take place! Include any different shifts for the event, skills you think might be helpful to have, if this would be a good fit for any particular audiences, and more. Information here includes:
Search and select the address for your event. You will also have the option to address details, such as an entry code, or main area to meet (ex: meet by in the north parking lot, by the statue).
You can select the remote option if it’s not in person. A text box will then appear, you will be able to enter in a virtual meeting link (ex: Zoom, Google Meet) that can be accessed on the day of the event.
Search and select the nonprofit you are volunteering with in this section.
If your organization is not listed, you may have the option to input your organization name directly. Please reach out to support@brightfunds.org if you have any trouble finding your organization.
In this section, you can set up the below details, which are all optional.
If a participant decides to bring a guest, they will be prompted to fill in their guest’s details.
If you enabled the waitlist, a “Join Waitlist” button will appear on your event page if your event reaches capacity. If there are any spots that open up, you can invite the waitlisted individual to sign up.
Prior to posting your event, you can apply the audience details.
Once you fill out the details, you can then Save and Preview your volunteering event. When you are ready, you can click “Publish Event” in the upper right corner:
Need to make edits? Click on the “Manage Event” button in the upper right corner to go back to your “creating event” page.
When you publish your event, it can be searchable by people within your company! You will be able to share the event, post updates in the comments section and see a list of the attendees.
You can save your event before making it public. When you are ready to publish your event:
You have the option to add other colleagues to host your event! To add a host:
As the creator/host of a volunteer event, you can invite and add colleagues to your event.
To invite or add:
On the Attendee Table for your event page:
| Column | What it means |
|---|---|
| Name | First and last name of the attendee |
| Added on | Date the attendee was added to the event |
| Added by | Name of the attendee who added the guest (blank for self-registered) |
| Status | Invited – your program admin or the host of the event invites a colleague to an event through the system.Added – preliminary status; attendee is manually added by an admin or host to the event. This status does not mean the hours are confirmed because the event has not yet occurred. Once the hours are confirmed, the status updates to Attended.Joined – preliminary status; attendee signs themself up for an event. This status does not mean the hours are confirmed because the event has not yet occurred. Once the hours are confirmed, the status updates to Attended.Waitlisted – if the attendee is currently on the waitlist (if turned on for your event)Attended – final status for all participants who attended the event. This status is confirmed in one of three ways:The attendee checks in/confirms their time at the event. The attendee confirms their attendance after the event. The attendee takes no action and the time is automatically tracked in the system after the confirmation window closes after an event. |
| Affiliation | Guest or Employee — clearly labeled to differentiate |
| Hours recorded | Hours logged for this attendee; editable by the host via dropdown |
If you need a list of your attendees, you can do so from your event page!
To download your attendee list:
The list will show you information such as names, shifts, hours, affiliation, and status.
If an attendee signs up, but cancels before the event, they will be removed from your Attendee report.
If an attendee did not attend the event after it has passed, their status on your Attendees report will appear under your “Canceled?” header as True.
If you would like to receive an email when someone signs up for your event, you can do so from your event page.
If the hours are not confirmed after the event, the hours will be automatically submitted by our system five days after the event has concluded.
Need to make edits? On your actual event page:
To delete the event:
Your company may need to review the event you created and approve it before it appears in the search for volunteering opportunities. Once your event is reviewed, you should receive an email with an update.
When you publish your event, it can be searchable by people within your company! You will be able to share the event, post and see updates from participants in the Comments section, and see a list of the attendees.
If you have any questions regarding Volunteering, you can reach out to our team at support@brightfunds.org.
Spent time volunteering over the weekend, or last month? Or maybe you have volunteering you’ll be doing in the future? Track it on Bright Funds.
