Just a note on the "online donation function" at NORD.
NORD had normally accepted donations for grants manually. The "online facility" is new. AND, Demo had a couple of small problems when he donated. But the IT department reacted VERY quickly to fix the problems (related to iPhone). There shouldn't be anymore. But we wanted to mention it just in case. If there is any problem whatsoever, drop a PM to Demo or I and we'll get immediate attention.
Also in answer to other concerns about international donations etc, I copy this note from Sefanie and NORD. She said:
I'll ask on Monday about international donations to NORD. We receive them from all over the world, but I am not sure if they can come through the website because the money might need to be converted first to US dollars. I truly don't know if that's the case, or how that works -- but will find out and get right back to you.
Since we do receive funds from all over the world, this is not an uncommon occurrence at NORD.
FYI, if the money needs to be converted to US dollars first, then I believe that the most economical and the easiest way to do this -- and probably the most anonymous -- is to purchase a postal money order through the local post office. There will be a modest fee (as an example, it's around $4.00 in the US to send a postal money order from here to overseas).
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Regarding the absolute anonymity, if someone wants their donations to be totally anonymous (meaning the ID is not even known to NORD), I think the postal money order route, mailed via postal mail, is the best and only choice. It's not a bad choice, by the way. It's a very good, safe choice--for anyone, in any circumstance.
Our website definitely won't accept charge card donations without all the required information. That is a given everywhere and not unique to NORD. So, one can't do an online donation totally anonymously (anonymous to the point that NORD doesn't have the contact information of the person). An anonymous postal money order sent via snail mail is the answer in that case.
What I said, or tried to say previously, about contacting me re: anonymity -- is related to not receiving an acknowledgement (a thank you) from NORD if a donation is made through the web site.
Thus, if someone feels that they would like to donate via the website, but doesn't want to be receiving an acknowledgment of the donation for the sake of anonymity at their end, they can feel free to contact me directly and I'll make sure nothing is ever sent.They don't need to tell me the amount of the donation, as this is kept confidential also (I have no need to know how much an individual donates).
We send these acknowledgments so that people (within the US) can use it for tax records, but we also send them simply as a "thank you" to everyone.
By the way, I learned today that we receive several anonymous donations yearly for various funds and for unknown reasons. This is not a new concept for us.
