System and method for generating a community contribution index

• US 8,620,723 B1
• Filed: 07/20/2012
• Issued: 12/31/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/20/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: OurGroup, Inc.
• Original Assignee: OurGroup, Inc.
• Inventors: Good, Bradley Lawrence
• Primary Examiner(s): Singh, Gurkanwaljit
• Assistant Examiner(s): Yesildag, Mehmet
• Application Number:
  US13/554,951
• Time in Patent Office: 529 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 705/7.34
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0279 Fundraising management

Abstract

A system and method for generating a community contribution index (CCI) for organizations and providing reports pertaining to the CCI for one or more organizations is described. The CCI for an organization is calculated based upon monetary donations provided by the organization and the members associated with the organization and the number of volunteer hours provided by the members. The CCI provides a standardized way to measure an organization'"'"'s contributions to the community.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving, by an index server of a computer system, via a user interface of a client device, a request for a standardized index of community contribution of an organization;

retrieving, by the index server and from a database of the computer system, data for the organization, wherein the data includes a first monetary donation made by the organization, a second monetary donation made by members of the organization, a number of volunteer hours provided by the members of the organization, and a number of members of the organization;

determining, by the index server, the standardized index of the community contribution of the organization as a first function of the received data, the determining including

determining an organization donation value as a sum of (a) the first monetary donation and (b) the second monetary donation,

determining an estimated value of volunteer hours of the organization as a product of (a) the number of volunteer hours performed by the members of the organization and (b) average hourly earnings,

adjusting the estimated value of volunteer hours based on a weighted function compared to the organization donation value,

determining an organization point value as a sum of (a) the organization donation value and (b) the estimated value of volunteer hours, and

determining the standardized index of the community contribution of the organization by dividing (a) the organization point value by (b) the number of members of the organization; and

storing, by the index server, the determined standardized index of the organization in the database.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the average hourly earnings are for specific countries, the number of volunteer hours provided by the members of the organization is specified by country, and the standardized index is further based on the average hourly earnings for specific countries.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a request for a report comparing the standardized index of the community contribution of the organization to the standardized index for other organizations having the same industry classification or located in the same region;

requesting and receiving industry classification or region location for the organization;

identifying other organizations having the same industry classification or located in the same region;

calculating the standardized index for the other organizations having the same industry classification or located in the same region; and

preparing the report comparing the standardized index of the organization to the standardized index of the other organizations.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the organization includes a company, and a member of the organization includes an employee of the company.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the database is maintained by a server that tracks and verifies monetary donations of organizations, monetary donations of members of the organizations, and volunteer hours provided by the members of the organizations.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining an organization point value as a sum of (a) the organization donation value and (b) the estimated value of volunteer hours includes at least one of

(i) determining each of the organization donation value and the estimated value of volunteer hours as a monetary value,

(ii) determining each of the organization donation value and the estimated value of volunteer hours as a time value, or

(iii) determining each of the organization donation value and the estimated value of volunteer hours as a value of a predefined unit.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

causing the standardized index of the community contribution of the organization to be displayed on the client device.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the received data for the organization is verified.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the standardized index displayed to the user is noted to be calculated using unverified data, if at least some of the received data for the organization is not verified.

10. A system for generating community contribution indices, the system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory configured to store a set of instructions, which, when executed by the processor causes

a communications module to retrieve data for one or more organizations from a database in the system, wherein the data includes a first monetary donation made by each of the one or more organizations, a second monetary donation made by members of each of the one or more organizations, a number of volunteer hours provided by the members of each of the one or more organizations, and a number of members of each of the one or more organizations,

an index server to determine a standardized index for community contribution of each of the one or more organizations, wherein the standardized index is determined as a first function of the received data, the determining including

determining an organization donation value as a sum of (a) the first monetary donation and (b) the second monetary donation,

determining an estimated value of volunteer hours of the organization as a product of (a) the number of volunteer hours performed by the members of the organization and (b) average hourly earnings,

adjusting the estimated value of volunteer hours based on a weighted function compared to the organization donation value,

determining an organization point value as a sum of (a) the organization donation value and (b) the estimated value of volunteer hours, and

determining the standardized index of the community contribution of the organization by dividing (a) the organization point value by (b) the number of members of each of the one or more organizations, and

the communications module to send the determined standardized index for each of the one or more organizations to a requesting user.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the communications module is further configured to automatically and periodically request and receive updated data, the index server is further configured to automatically determine updates to the standardized index upon receiving the updated data, and the communications module is further configured to periodically send the updated standardized indices to the requesting user.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the requesting user is a subscriber to a service that provides periodic updates to determined standardized indices for organizations.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the communications module further obtains data on average hourly earnings for specific countries, wherein the number of volunteer hours provided by members of each of the one or more organizations is specified by country, and the standardized index is further based on the average hourly earnings for specific countries.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein determining an organization point value as a sum of (a) the organization donation value and (b) the estimated value of volunteer hours includes at least one of

(i) determining each of the organization donation value and the estimated value of volunteer hours as a monetary value,

(ii) determining each of the organization donation value and the estimated value of volunteer hours as a time value, or

(iii) determining each of the organization donation value and the estimated value of volunteer hours as a value of a predefined unit.

15. A system comprising:

means for receiving, by a server and from an user, a request for a standardized index of community contribution of an organization;

means for requesting and receiving data for the organization, wherein the data includes a first monetary donation made by the organization, a second monetary donation made by members of the organization, a number of volunteer hours provided by the members of the organization, and a number of members of the organization;

means for determining the standardized index of the community contribution of the organization as a first function of the received data, the determining including

determining an organization donation value as a sum of (a) the first monetary donation and (b) the second monetary donation,

determining an estimated value of volunteer hours of the organization as a product of (a) the number of volunteer hours performed by the members of the organization and (b) average hourly earnings,

adjusting the estimated value of volunteer hours based on a weighted function compared to the organization donation value,

determining an organization point value as a sum of (a) the organization donation value and (b) the estimated value of volunteer hours, and

determining the standardized index of the community contribution of the organization by dividing (a) the organization point value by (b) the number of members of the organization; and

means for causing the standardized index to be displayed to the user.