There isn't much one can't do on-line these days, from booking an airline ticket to ordering groceries.

Now those who give to charities also won't have to leave their homes to do so, thanks to an interesting initiative by the Centre on Philanthropy which enables Bermuda's charities to receive direct donations over the Internet.

Launched last month in time for Christmas, "Online Giving'' has exciting possibilities, noted Greg Peters, CEO at the Centre on Philanthropy, who saw the need to capitalise on the popularity of the Internet.

The Centre has also begun a drive to attract more of the Island's charities to become a member of the Centre on Philanthropy, with the "carrot'' being the Online Giving initiative which which will benefit those member charities tremendously.

At the last count on November 7, there were some 345 registered charities in Bermuda, and just under 100 were members of the Centre.

"Online Giving is a critical component and we hope that it will be a major incentive for charities to consider membership with the Centre,'' said Mr.

Peters.

However, he pointed out that charities are not obligated to become a member of the Centre on Philanthropy, nor to participate in the Online Giving portal if they become a member of the Centre.

"We do not want to use the stick, we would prefer to use the carrot approach,'' says the CEO, who also explained that the Centre does not know the identity of the persons donating to the various charities.

"We designed it specifically that way to encourage the charities to participate and the donors can feel comfortable that it is secure.

"There are three distinct levels of interaction that a charity can have with the Centre on Philanthropy; they can choose to remain relatively quiet and anonymous, they can become a member of the Centre for $75 for the year and then once they become a member they can choose to participate in the online giving portion of the programme,'' explained Mr. Peters.

"The reason we have made it optional is that there is an additional level of qualification that's required because there is financial information that is required by the security company providing the secure transaction medium and also the banks who want to be sure that the recipient organisation is in good standing. That's a fair expectation.'' But there are some big advantages to participating in the latter two, says Mr.

Peters.

"Online Giving is very new to Bermuda, it's the first facility of its kind in Bermuda and essentially allows the broader potential pool of donors, primarily individuals, to give to the charities of their choice when they are inspired to do so,'' he noted.

"We're taking advantage of the ever increasing growing number of people who are becoming very comfortable and very literate with the Internet. Of course, online shopping has been around for a long time and the concept of a vendor or retailer donating part proceeds to a charity is also not new.

"But what is new is to use that same medium, the internet, to allow a potential donor to see a project, charity and its work and then decide `that's a great idea, I would love to give to that' and do so right there on the spot.'' The motto of the Centre is to "Help Charities Help Bermuda''. As they say in their mission statement: "The Centre is committed to its role as a leader, advocate, mentor and resource for Bermuda's charities and volunteers.

Moreover, it will endeavour to promote a philanthropic philosophy, an attitude of real giving in the community through information, seminars and dialogue with the charities, the public, Government and the business sector''.

Mr. Peters stressed that the Centre is not a "watchdog'' for the charities, acting more as a "charitable broker'' putting the giving and receiving parties together. They also do not collect the online donations for the different charities.

"You choose the charity, and you choose what kind of donation to make,'' he pointed out.

"We need to reassure the public that the Centre is not a collection agency.

Any money given to online portal goes to the charity of their choice.

We do not ever touch the money that is not intended for us.

"You can donate against your credit card, by making a pledge for a future amount of money, or by pledging a non-monetary gift called a "gift-in-kind''.

No matter what your choice, the donation and the information is sent directly to the charity.'' And Mr. Peters assures that the online giving process is secured with e-commerce standard security technology, They have utilised the technical know-how of Paragon Bermuda Ltd, Promisant Ltd, Logic and Northrock, the Bank of NT Butterfield and IBM to make the online giving process possible. The Centre's website was launched last year.

"By working with Paragon, Logic and Northrock we have partnered with three of the major players in Internet technologies here in Bermuda,'' said Mr. Peters.

Online Giving is located on the Centre's website, www.charity.bm, which has profiles of many of Bermuda's charities. This year marks the Centre's 10th year in existence and Mr. Peters is excited about the direction it is going.

They moved into a new office last April, at the former site of the Bermuda Pharmacy on Church Street right next to the Bus Terminal where they are sharing office space with six other charities. They are the Bermuda Gymnastics Association, Bermuda Health Alliance, Age Concern, New Theatre Ltd, Council Partners Charitable Trust and a very new charity called the Bermuda Career Centre.

"The Centre's role has evolved over the past ten years. It is the focal point for all charitable philanthropic endeavours in Bermuda and while it was designed to be a core resource for charities it has grown to now become the focal point of all charitable endeavours,'' he said.

"As part of our mandate and mission to support charities, we also support volunteers and we also support donors by acting as a resource centre and information provider to those two core groups.

"The long term goal is to see the Centre become the focal point for Bermuda's other primary sector, the private charitable sector. The best way to describe it is to think of the Bermuda International Business Association, the Chamber of Commerce, the Bermuda Hotel Association...these major groups within Bermuda all having an affiliated group that's responsible for coordination of effort that's going to be of benefit to its members.

"That's the Centre's role as it relates to the charitable sector, to be that focal point primarily for charities but also volunteers and donors.'' Added Mr. Peters: "The Centre has changed the way it does business by giving it a 24-hour-a-day presence to the Bermuda community, and while we have a lot of work yet to do on finishing the core development of the website, it is a very good site at this point and we have some exciting things planned for this year.'' With so many charities in Bermuda, the Bermuda public is continually asked to give to good causes, which by their nature they love to do. In some cases, though, new charities end up providing the same service as existing charities, something Mr. Peters says the Centre watches out for.

"When they approach us the first thing we will do is ask them "have you been through our website'' to see whether or not there is another organisation out there that may already be doing something identical or very similar?'' "The reason we do that is very simple. We are a resource for the donors and they have encouraged us to be sensitive to the fact that we do have some duplication.

"Recently it has been pointed out -- and it's very true -- that charities are normally formed as a result of a passion and commitment of one or two individuals. That same passion and commitment is necessary sometimes to get something going.'' But the person or persons starting a new charity may be reluctant to give up their `good idea'.

"If you've got this many charities and there is an overlap, you may want to think about coming together,'' Mr. Peters urged.

"On the other side of the coin, where the passion and commitment comes in, is they take ownership and sometimes there is real reluctance for the people who have been responsible for starting an organisation to let go as it were and work with others who have similar objectives.

"In a community this small, if you have four charities all doing the same or very similar then they are drawing from the same pool of people. What we have found is sometimes working together has a far better result than four charities all trying to do the same things at the same time.''