Monday, January 26, 2009

Project Give Back - Charity Begins at home



Project Give Back

Providing Non-Profits with a Source of Continual Donations

We have all heard the saying: charity begins at home. But often, charity can also begin at work. In fact, studies show that charities rely on businesses for the majority of their support. With that, one hopes that every business will come to a point where they recognize that it is time to give something back to the community for the success they have been able to achieve.

For Priority Payment Systems, that time came approximately three years after launching its bank card processing company in Alpharetta. John V. Priore, president and CEO of Priority Payment Systems, established the company in 2005 with several senior executives who have more than 100 years of combined industry experience. The company’s goal was to provide lower costs, along with exceptional service, to its bank card processing customers. With a record of outstanding performance that currently places Priority Payment Systems in the top 70 of all credit card processors in the country, the company indeed has a lot for which to be thankful.

"We always knew we wanted to do something for our community when the time was right. Project Give Back evolved from the great response we received in the marketplace and the opportunity we saw within our business model," says John Priore. The opportunity that Priority saw was to launch a program that enabled both the company and its business customers to give back to the community.

Project Give Back provides an innovative partnership opportunity for foundations, charities, and other non-profit organizations to join with Priority to create a totally new way to generate the contributions needed to support their missions. "We all know how challenging it is for charitable organizations to fund their work, especially in these uncertain economic times," adds John. "With Project Give Back, we believe we can provide another avenue for non-profit organizations to generate funds that does not impact any of the existing channels, while also benefiting the businesses that participate by reducing their credit card processing expenses."

So, how does Project Give Back work?

Almost every business today accepts credit cards as a form of payment for their products or services. Priority provides the services and systems that companies need to process payments from all major credit cards, including Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover, as well as check payments. John believes that Priority’s wide-range of payment options, advanced point-of-sale solutions, and superior customer service are the primary reasons the company has achieved such remarkable success.

Project Give Back offers charitable organizations the opportunity to generate contributions from their business patrons at no cost to their organization. All Priority needs to get started is the organization’s endorsement to offer Priority’s payment processing services to their business donors and Priority will do the rest. In turn, the charity will receive a percentage of Priority’s profits on a monthly, recurring basis for all referred patrons that select Priority’s services—providing a new, ongoing stream of donations in support of the charity’s mission.

A partnership with Priority offers considerable benefits to both the foundation and its business patrons. The foundation can establish a new, no-cost channel—and continual donations—for its fundraising efforts while extending the value it provides to its patrons. Participating business patrons can improve their payment processing service levels and reduce operating costs, while also contributing to their favorite foundation at no additional expense. "This is a classic situation where everybody wins," John explains. "All we need is the opportunity to work with a foundation, and we will be able to show what our team at Priority is capable of doing. We are very confident in our abilities to help organizations generate additional funds for their causes."

Project Give Back can also deliver positive rewards to a company’s employees. An employee can receive a sense of accomplishment from contributing to a worthy cause while at the same time doing their job. "Project Give Back is one of the main reasons I like working at Priority," says Lori Chittenden, who works in the underwriting department. "Priority’s Project Give Back allows me to do my job for the company, and at the same time, benefit charitable organizations that are doing great things within their communities." John adds, "I believe Project Give Back’s impact on our company will be larger than the role we play with our foundation partners. I want this program to be a fundamental part of our culture; for everyone to realize all of us can do something to help those in need; and that Priority is playing an important part in that process."

So how can your organization get started? Contact Priority Payment Systems located at 2001 Westside Parkway, Suite 155, in Alpharetta, 30004, or call (866) 582-8796 and ask for the Project Give Back team. You can also e-mail an inquiry to projectgiveback@prioritypaymentsystems.com.

For more information on Priority Payment Systems, visit www.prioritypaymentsystems.com.