Method of fund-raising with a keyless contribution and gift commitment management device

• US 5,663,547 A
• Filed: 07/24/1995
• Issued: 09/02/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Pierun Corporation
• Original Assignee: Witold A. Ziarno
• Inventors: Ziarno, Witold A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hajec, Donald T.
• Assistant Examiner(s): LEE, MICHAEL GUNYOUNG
• Application Number:
  US08/505,610
• Time in Patent Office: 771 Days
• Field of Search: 235/380, 235/379, 235/385, 235/472, 902/4, 902/22, 364/401, 364/402, 364/406, 364/408
• US Class Current: 235/380
• CPC Class Codes: A47G 33/00 Religious or ritual equipment in dwelling or for general use
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/18 involving self-service terminals [SST], vending machines, kiosks or multimedia terminals
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/343 Cards including a counter
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/4037 Remote solvency checks
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0279 Fundraising management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0014 for vending, access and use of specific services not covered anywhere else in G07F17/00 meter-controlled dispensing of liquid, gas or electricity G07F15/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 19/20 Automatic teller machines [ATMs]
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 19/203 Dispensing operations within ATMs dispensing in general G07D11/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 5/22 electrically actuated
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/00 Mechanisms actuated by objects other than coins to free or to actuate vending, hiring, coin or paper currency dispensing or refunding apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/02 by keys or other credit registering devices
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/08 by coded identity card or credit card or other personal identification means without personal verification means G07F7/02

Abstract

A method of and device for streamlining, simplifying and inducing the giving of contribution or gift commitments by contributors or prospective gift givers [, and receiving thereof upon receipt that] involves dispersing through a crowd of prospective contributors or gift givers a plurality of keyless, electronic contributions or gifts management devices for immediate entry of consecutive data comprising the identities of the contributors or gift givers making the monetary contribution commitments or monetary gift commitments, and device therefor. Optionally, the method and mode of operation of the device involves a plurality of gift recipients of the monetary contribution or monetary gift commitments, and further includes the step of supplanting a gift recipient or fund-raising organization with another gift recipient or fund-raising organization to which contribution or gift commitments are made. The method and mode of operation of the device has the advantage that the entry of gifts or contribution commitments to a plurality of the gift recipients or fund-raising organizations is simplified. [Optionally, the method and the mode of operation of device includes the step of correlating a numerical amount to the successive contributors'"'"' or gift givers'"'"' data to obtain contribution or gift data sets, and in which the step of dispersing is selected from the group consisting of spreading, distributing, migrating, advancing, disseminating, and diffusing the devices. The method and mode of operation of the device further includes the steps of communicating the data for a plurality of contribution or gift commitments in a substantially continuous stream to a remote device for immediate recordation thereof on the remote device. Optionally, the method or mode of operation of the devices involves a plurality of consecutive contribution or gift commitments entered on the devices unimpeded by verification of authorization whereby the throughput of contribution or gift commitments entered on the devices is enhanced. In yet another variant of the method or mode of operation of the device involves a first group of contributors or gift givers making gift or contribution commitments on the devices that are correlated to a numerical contribution or gift amount and in other contributors or gift givers making gift or contribution commitments correlated to mutable contribution numerical amounts. The numerical amount is selected from the group of a pre-programmed numerical amount, a prearranged numerical amount, a fixed numerical amount, a variable numerical amount, a numerical amount of an order inducing the making of a monetary contribution, and a post-programmed numerical amount. The entry of the consecutive contributions or gifts further comprises immediate recordation thereof on the devices, and optionally further including the step of communicating the contribution or gift data to a card account processor for processing thereof.

Claims

1. A method of streamlining, simplifying and inducing the giving of contribution or gift commitments by contributors or prospective gift givers comprising,

dispersing through a crowd of prospective contributors or gift givers a plurality of keyless, electronic contributions or gifts management devices for immediate entry of consecutive data comprising the identities of the contributors or gift givers making the monetary contribution commitments or monetary gift commitments, entering on said keyless, electronic contributions or gifts management devices said consecutive data comprising the identities of the contributors or gift givers making the monetary contribution commitments or monetary gift commitments, and giving said contributions or gifts by processing said consecutive data comprising the identities of the contributors or gift givers making the monetary contribution commitments or monetary gift commitments.

2. The method of claim 1 in which there are a plurality of gift recipients of the monetary contribution or gift commitments, and further comprising the step of supplanting gift recipient or fund-raising organization data with some other gift recipient or fund-raising organization to which contribution or gift commitments are made,

whereby the entry of gifts or contribution commitments to a plurality of the gift recipients or fund-raising organizations is simplified and streamlined.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of correlating a numerical amount to the successive contributors'"'"' or gift givers'"'"' data to obtain contribution or gift data sets, and in which the step of dispersing is selected from the group consisting of spreading, distributing, migrating, advancing, disseminating, and diffusing said devices.

4. The method of claim 3 in which a plurality of consecutive contribution or gift commitments are entered on the devices unimpeded by verification of authorization

whereby the throughput of contribution or gift commitments entered on the devices is enhanced.

5. The method of claim 3 further comprising the step of communicating the contribution or gift data to a card account processor for processing thereof.

6. The method of claim 5 in which the step of processing comprises entering credits to accounts of recipients of the gifts or contributions and entering debits to accounts of the contributors or gift givers.

7. The method in accordance with claim 5 further comprising the step of temporarily retaining substantially identical data of the contribution and gift commitments at said device and at another remote device simultaneously,

whereby there is a decreased risk of loss or corruption of the contribution or gift data on said keyless contributions or gifts management device.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of communicating the data for a plurality of contributions or gifts in a substantially continuous stream to a remote device for immediate recordation thereof on said remote device.

9. The method of claim 1 in which a first group of contributors or gift givers make gift or contribution commitments on the devices that are correlated to a fixed numerical contribution or gift amount and in which other contributors or gift givers make gift or contribution commitments correlated to mutable contribution numerical amounts.

10. The method of claim 1 in which a numerical amount of said monetary contribution commitment or said monetary gift commitment is selected from the group of a pre-programmed numerical amount, a prearranged numerical amount, a fixed numerical amount, a variable numerical amount, a numerical amount of an order inducing the making of a monetary contribution, and a post-programmed numerical amount.

11. The method of claim 1 in which the entry of the consecutive contribution or gift commitments further comprises immediately recording said commitments on the devices.

12. The method of claim 1 in which the devices have user interfaces consisting essentially of a means for ratification of a contribution or gift commitment.

13. A portable contribution or gift management device for the making of gift or contribution commitments, said device transferable manually from one contributor or gift giver to another contributor or gift giver, comprising:

a self-powered, keyless contributions or gifts management device, said device having means for immediate entry of data identifying consecutive contributors or gift givers having card record mediums therewith, means for capturing the immediate entry of said data identifying consecutive contributors or gift givers, and means for giving said contributions by processing said data identifying said consecutive contributors or gift givers making the monetary contribution commitments or monetary gift commitments, said means for giving said contributions by processing said data identifying said consecutive contributors or gift givers making the monetary contribution commitments or monetary gift commitments disposed on said self-powered, keyless contributions or gifts management device or optionally disposed on a remotely located device receiving said data identifying said consecutive contributors or gift givers from said self-powered, keyless contributions or gifts management device.

14. The device of claim 13 further comprising means for supplanting a gift recipient or fund-raising organization to which contribution or gift commitments are made with another gift recipient or fund-raising organization to which the contribution or gift commitments are made.

15. The device of claim 13 further comprising means for capturing information of a plurality of consecutive card record mediums of contributors or gift givers without breaking up the capture of the information of the card record mediums, and in which the card record mediums comprise data which is updated periodically.

16. The device of claim 13 further comprising means for directly correlating numerical amount data to the successive contributors'"'"' or gift givers'"'"' respective card record medium information to obtain contribution or gift data sets.

17. The device of claim 16 in which the monetary contribution commitments or monetary gift commitments further include numerical amount data selected from the group consisting of pre-programmed numerical amount data, fixed numerical amount data, variable numerical amount data, numerical amount data of an order inducing the making of a monetary contribution, and post-programmed numerical amount data.

18. The device of claim 16 in which the consecutive contribution or gift data sets are immediately recorded on the device unimpeded by a remote verification of authorization,

whereby the throughput of contribution and gift commitments entered on the device is greatly enhanced.

19. The device of claim 13 further comprising a user interface consisting essentially of means for ratifying the successful entry of the data on the device.

20. The device of claim 13 further comprising means for immediate communication of the contribution or gift commitment data entered on the device to a remote device for immediate recordation thereof on the remote device.

21. The device of claim 20 further comprising means for the remote device and the keyless contributions or gifts management device both to temporarily retain substantially identical data of the contribution and gift commitments,

whereby there is a decreased risk of loss or corruption of the contribution or gift data on said keyless contributions or gifts management device.

22. The device according to claim 13 in which said medium has indicia thereon detectable by said card reader for indicating the credit level of the corresponding contributor or gift giver, and said device automatically indicating to the contributor or gift giver whose credit level has been detected a suggested monetary contribution or gift amount to be contributed.