Donations to Dr. Jacobson for IBD Research

[deborahbroadus]

Several IBD threads sent me in search of an easy way to donate. I wanted to have all the ducks in a row before I revealed the idea. I wanted to know if the idea was feasible.

I ran the idea past Steve (RIDGETOP) first to see how much work installing a Paypal button on our sites would be (he will chime in about that part later, I hope).

Bottom line is, donating would be so easy if (since the majority of us use PayPal, if the University of Florida instituted a PayPal "drop site" specifically for donations to IBD research.

I put out feelers, and so far this is the progress made:

I hope I gauged the forum temps correctly and that a lot of us would donate if it were easier to donate. One doesn't have to put a Paypal button on their site, if they have one, but they can still donate this way.

Read from bottom up...

Tue, January 4, 2011 5:11:04 PMRE: Donations
From: "Desmond,Katherine E" <[email protected]>View Contact
To: Deborah Broadus-Muskauski <[email protected]>


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Deb,



I spoke with our Gifts Processing department and we do not have PayPal set up where we can accept donations online. I sent in a request for our internal IT department to see if they would be able to set this up. I will keep you posted on the progresses. I think this would be very beneficial for us and hope they are able to do it.



Thanks again for thinking of us!



Have a great day!

Katherine



From: Desmond,Katherine E
Sent: Monday, January 03, 2011 5:06 PM
To: 'Deborah Broadus-Muskauski'
Subject: RE: Donations



Hi Deb,



Sorry I didn’t get back with you today, this day flew by way too fast. I did some asking around and know who I need to contact tomorrow. I will keep you posted and hopefully have an answer by tomorrow.



Have a good night.

Katherine



From: Deborah Broadus-Muskauski [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, December 31, 2010 10:29 AM
To: Desmond,Katherine E
Subject: Re: Donations



Thanks for getting back promptly! So many people would give, if the giving were effortless. Having a Paypal site to donate to, would make it easier for more to give as most of the BP breeders and keepers use Paypal.


Deb's Captive Bred Ball Pythons
www.debscaptivebredballpythons.com

PROVIDING BOTH PET AND BREEDING QUALITY BALL PYTHONS






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: "Desmond,Katherine E" <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Sent: Fri, December 31, 2010 8:46:43 AM
Subject: Re: Donations

Good morning Deborah,
I have not done something like this before, but I'm sure we can set it up and I'm sure the foundation has done this before. Our office is closed until Jan 3 and I will look into it at that time.
Thanks for thinking of us, this is a really great cause.
Thanks,
Katherine




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Legato,Karen
To: Deborah Broadus-Muskauski <[email protected]>; Desmond,Katherine E
Sent: Wed Dec 29 08:08:26 2010
Subject: RE: Donations

Deborah, as I am technically challenged, I will forward your msg to my asst Katherine Desmond. I'm sure she can help. And thank you for your support of Dr. Jacobson's research.

-----Original Message-----
From: Deborah Broadus-Muskauski <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, December 28, 2010 3:15 PM
To: Legato,Karen <[email protected]>
Subject: Donations

Good afternoon,



I am one of several reptile owners that also operate a small business. Some of us have expressed interest in donating to further Dr. Jacobson’s reptile disease research, specifically IBD and related factors. To do this, we have come up with the idea of inserting PayPal Donation Buttons on our sites.



Is there any code, or email address, earmarked for this purpose, to which the donations can be routed for pick up?



Thanks!




Deb's Captive Bred Ball Pythons
www.debscaptivebredballpythons.com

PROVIDING BOTH PET AND BREEDING QUALITY BALL PYTHONS

 

[Shadera]

I can't believe something that important, they don't have paypal set up.. I'd definitely donate if it were easier. In fact, I'd donate a portion of every sale to them, that's how important this stuff is.

 

[AbsoluteApril]

that's great! I thought Dr Jacobson had stopped taking donations or something years ago. glad to know that isn't the case, please keep us updated, I'm sure there are lots of people that would give towards more IBD research!

 

[TheFragginDragon]

I think this is a fantastic idea...something I would definitely consider giving to on a regular basis to further this research.

 

[deborahbroadus]

I had been researching the U of F site to see how the donations were divided and noticed that there was no specific slot to send donations that would benefit our community most. Making a simple donation on the site does not always guarantee that the monies would go to the research we desire.

Thus, I think a lot of us didn't donate because there was no specific way to earmark donations to a specific research; ie one that would be of most benefit to us (I know I didn't).

Setting this up is a way to ensure that there is money available for THIS specific research.
PayPal donation buttions can be programmed to go to this specific drop site (once it's set up) None of us need to touch the money and by having it on more sites, we make the choice of donating available for our customers (while educating them at the same time).

I plan to write up some information about IBD on my site and have the PayPal donation button on that page, I am sure more will follow or simply go to U of F and donate from there. I am hoping that people don't try to corrupt what we are attempting to achieve.

 

[deborahbroadus]

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like they have the ability to either set up PayPal or establish an e-mail for IBD research donations to be routed and are unable to follow though at the moment.

*Read from bottom up.

Tue, January 11, 2011 12:34:16 PMRe: Donations
From: "Desmond,Katherine E" <[email protected]>View Contact
To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unfortunately UF follows the PCI compliance and we are not allowed to receive credit card information via e-mails or phone. That was brought up during one of the meetings and it looks like were stuck in a hard spot.
They are going to keep looking into it so hopefully soon we will be able to do this.
When and if they figure out how we can get around these roadblocks I will let you know.
Thanks again for your time and patience.



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Deborah Broadus-Muskauski <[email protected]>
To: Desmond,Katherine E
Sent: Tue Jan 11 11:44:14 2011
Subject: Re: Donations


I am sorry too. It could have been as simple as having an campus email set up to receive the donations for this purpose.

Deb's Captive Bred Ball Pythons
www.debscaptivebredballpythons.com
PROVIDING BOTH PET AND BREEDING QUALITY BALL PYTHONS





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: "Desmond,Katherine E" <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Sent: Tue, January 11, 2011 10:03:33 AM
Subject: Re: Donations


Hi Deb,
So I have some bad news- apparently we do not have the database to receive paypal donations. They informed me they have had meetings regarding this, however its never been moved forward.
I'm so sorry about this. I think we are missing a big opportunity here.
Have a great day,
Katherine



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Deborah Broadus-Muskauski <[email protected]>
To: Desmond,Katherine E
Sent: Tue Jan 04 20:55:52 2011
Subject: Re: Donations


Thanks for keeping me updated on the progress. This is such a simple way to donate.

Deb's Captive Bred Ball Pythons
www.debscaptivebredballpythons.com
PROVIDING BOTH PET AND BREEDING QUALITY BALL PYTHONS





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: "Desmond,Katherine E" <[email protected]>
To: Deborah Broadus-Muskauski <[email protected]>
Sent: Tue, January 4, 2011 5:11:04 PM
Subject: RE: Donations


Hi Deb,



I spoke with our Gifts Processing department and we do not have PayPal set up where we can accept donations online. I sent in a request for our internal IT department to see if they would be able to set this up. I will keep you posted on the progresses. I think this would be very beneficial for us and hope they are able to do it.



Thanks again for thinking of us!



Have a great day!

Katherine

____________________________________________________________________

From: Desmond,Katherine E
Sent: Monday, January 03, 2011 5:06 PM
To: 'Deborah Broadus-Muskauski'
Subject: RE: Donations



Hi Deb,



Sorry I didn’t get back with you today, this day flew by way too fast. I did some asking around and know who I need to contact tomorrow. I will keep you posted and hopefully have an answer by tomorrow.



Have a good night.

Katherine
____________________________________________________________________

From: Deborah Broadus-Muskauski [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, December 31, 2010 10:29 AM
To: Desmond,Katherine E
Subject: Re: Donations



Thanks for getting back promptly! So many people would give, if the giving were effortless. Having a Paypal site to donate to, would make it easier for more to give as most of the BP breeders and keepers use Paypal.


Deb's Captive Bred Ball Pythons
www.debscaptivebredballpythons.com

PROVIDING BOTH PET AND BREEDING QUALITY BALL PYTHONS


------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: "Desmond,Katherine E" <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Sent: Fri, December 31, 2010 8:46:43 AM
Subject: Re: Donations

Good morning Deborah,
I have not done something like this before, but I'm sure we can set it up and I'm sure the foundation has done this before. Our office is closed until Jan 3 and I will look into it at that time.
Thanks for thinking of us, this is a really great cause.
Thanks,
Katherine




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Legato,Karen
To: Deborah Broadus-Muskauski <[email protected]>; Desmond,Katherine E
Sent: Wed Dec 29 08:08:26 2010
Subject: RE: Donations

Deborah, as I am technically challenged, I will forward your msg to my asst Katherine Desmond. I'm sure she can help. And thank you for your support of Dr. Jacobson's research.
____________________________________________________________________
-----Original Message-----
From: Deborah Broadus-Muskauski
<[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, December 28, 2010 3:15 PM
To: Legato,Karen <[email protected]>
Subject: Donations

Good afternoon,

I am one of several reptile owners that also operate a small business. Some of us have expressed interest in donating to further Dr. Jacobson’s reptile disease research, specifically IBD and related factors. To do this, we have come up with the idea of inserting PayPal Donation Buttons on our sites.



Is there any code, or email address, earmarked for this purpose, to which the donations can be routed for pick up?



Thanks!

Deb's Captive Bred Ball Pythons
www.debscaptivebredballpythons.com

PROVIDING BOTH PET AND BREEDING QUALITY BALL PYTHONS

 

[TripleMoonsExotic]

You don't need a database to accept PayPal donations. It's a script PayPal provides that you copy/paste into your code. Their is nothing to it. Because PayPal is doing the payment processing on their secure server, they would have no access to credit card numbers either, so I'm not sure where they were going with that.

 

[deborahbroadus]

You don't need a database to accept PayPal donations. It's a script PayPal provides that you copy/paste into your code. Their is nothing to it. Because PayPal is doing the payment processing on their secure server, they would have no access to credit card numbers either, so I'm not sure where they were going with that.

Maybe you could take up the reins and explain it to them? I doubt that their IT people really looked into Paypal if they don't seem to understand how it works.

 

[Mooing Tricycle]

Yes, Steph is right. Sounds like they have no clue how that works, and their tech department dosnt either. But they would probably have to set up a secondary bank account, i feel, to further separate funds received. Tracking for tax purposes. Especially if other people were going to claim such a donation on their own taxes later. paypal also takes a percentage, so, thats a waste, in my opinion. Why not just send them a check, and specifically note it for being for IBD research?

 

[Mister Internet]

Yes, Steph is right. Sounds like they have no clue how that works, and their tech department dosnt either. But they would probably have to set up a secondary bank account, i feel, to further separate funds received. Tracking for tax purposes. Especially if other people were going to claim such a donation on their own taxes later. paypal also takes a percentage, so, thats a waste, in my opinion. Why not just send them a check, and specifically note it for being for IBD research?

If you tell people to specify it as a "gift", they will have the option to pay the fees themselves...

As for the completely and utterly bogus answer their "IT" department gave you... they are either trying to blow you off and not even trying that hard to cover it up, or they have a staff of IT personnel who have been there since the mid-70's (not uncommon at academic institutions). Receiving CC information via email??? It's obvious they don't ahve the first clue about PayPal, and that no one even TRIED... I would express disappointment that their IT department is treating this so flippantly and with such blatantly incorrect information... that's just ridiculous.

 

[TripleMoonsExotic]

Just because they have an IT department doesn't mean then know anything about web development, so you can't fault them for lack of knowledge. Their is a very large architectural testing company I work with that has a five man IT department that builds crazy complex internal databases and software, but they don't know basic CSS. What they do and what I do are two totally different animals.

Now, laziness for not looking it up I do fault them for. Google "paypal donation" and the PayPal website comes right up to the section on donations and has a link to show the example code that you copy/paste.

 

[deborahbroadus]

Yes, Steph is right. Sounds like they have no clue how that works, and their tech department dosnt either. But they would probably have to set up a secondary bank account, i feel, to further separate funds received. Tracking for tax purposes. Especially if other people were going to claim such a donation on their own taxes later. paypal also takes a percentage, so, thats a waste, in my opinion. Why not just send them a check, and specifically note it for being for IBD research?

You still have to pay for an envelope and stamp and make a trip to the mailbox, and judging by the overwhelming numbers of people that donated though that medium.. ROI may be better with a PayPal button.

 

[Mister Internet]

Just because they have an IT department doesn't mean then know anything about web development, so you can't fault them for lack of knowledge. Their is a very large architectural testing company I work with that has a five man IT department that builds crazy complex internal databases and software, but they don't know basic CSS. What they do and what I do are two totally different animals.

I know that, I've done both. I was working on large enterprise systems when you were getting your driver's license. I also do modern web development, and it's been my experience that a college's "IT Department" is typically responsible for the web stuff as well. Since this is a rather large institution, I'm not sure why that wouldn't be the case... I have never worked with a college that has a separate 'web/graphic arts' department...

anyhoo...

 

[deborahbroadus]

I know that, I've done both. I was working on large enterprise systems when you were getting your driver's license. I also do modern web development, and it's been my experience that a college's "IT Department" is typically responsible for the web stuff as well. Since this is a rather large institution, I'm not sure why that wouldn't be the case... I have never worked with a college that has a separate 'web/graphic arts' department...

anyhoo...

Anyone can take up the reins, that's why I posted the thread so it could be a community effort. At this point, someone that knows how to explain the mechanics, better than I, is needed.

 

[TripleMoonsExotic]

Since Tom has a vast amount of knowledge on how IT Departments at institutions such as this run, perhaps he would be best suited to contact them?

 

[deborahbroadus]

All any one needs to do is state that they are following up on the email regarding .....

And go from there to explain. We are trying to accomplish something here.
So whichever of you volunteers is it.

 

[Mister Internet]

Since Tom has a vast amount of knowledge on how IT Departments at institutions such as this run, perhaps he would be best suited to contact them?

Ok, I wasn't trying to be snarky, I'm sorry if it came off that way... I was just trying to reinforce that letting the university pass it off that way is likely highly disingenuous their part, given my experience with how "IT" is handled at institutions such as this. I've worked with 3 such institutions in my career... Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, IA... NC-Chapel Hill, and my current graduate studies at DePaul in Chicago. Invariably, they sequester all their technology efforts to the same large department, and I've yet to see a sensible separation of back-end and front-end development. Maybe educational institutions have made progress in this area in the interim years since I've been exposed to them, and if so, I apologize and retract my statements.

I think what Deb experienced is exactly what I insinuated, which is a very dated and apathetic IT department that couldn't be bothered to spend 5 minutes vetting the request, even though the people likely to be tasked with the development were part of that department...

 

[deborahbroadus]

Ok, I wasn't trying to be snarky, I'm sorry if it came off that way... I was just trying to reinforce that letting the university pass it off that way is likely highly disingenuous their part, given my experience with how "IT" is handled at institutions such as this. I've worked with 3 such institutions in my career... Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, IA... NC-Chapel Hill, and my current graduate studies at DePaul in Chicago. Invariably, they sequester all their technology efforts to the same large department, and I've yet to see a sensible separation of back-end and front-end development. Maybe educational institutions have made progress in this area in the interim years since I've been exposed to them, and if so, I apologize and retract my statements.

I think what Deb experienced is exactly what I insinuated, which is a very dated and apathetic IT department that couldn't be bothered to spend 5 minutes vetting the request, even though the people likely to be tasked with the development were part of that department...

Tom, could you just pick up where I left off? I prefer this to be a joint effort.

Thanks!

 

[snakechaarmer]

Has anyone done anymore work on this? I am local to the university and if nobody has picked up and called I may waltz on over there and see if I can do anything in person to get this rolling.

 

[Mister Internet]

Tom, could you just pick up where I left off? I prefer this to be a joint effort.

Thanks!

I'm sorry, I was merely making observations on your situation, I apologize if I gave the impression I was able or anxious to volunteer in the effort... I fear my contributions to this thread were more harmful than helpful.

Just so you know, there is no point explaining the "mechanics" of this to anyone there... it would be like explaining the "mechanics" of ringing up a purchase on a cash register to a business owner. If they don't now how to do it by now or with 10 minutes' research, nothing any of us say is going to be the tipping factor. I applaud your efforts, but they have pretty much told you where they stand, which is 10 years in the past, like most academic institutions...