Welcome to the SocialOffset Help Center

• It is a non-profit organization (501c3 status pending with the IRS). SocialOffset allows people to balance their purchases with their values by making a donation that “offsets” the tax dollars they are spending in a destination that support policies they don’t agree with.
• It is like carbon offset but for your values.

• Canceling or moving an event can have huge financial impacts on a destination, and oftentimes hurting the people who need help the most. Removing a meeting can mean that many front-line working individuals, who only work when there is event business in town, lose the opportunity to be paid for something that is primarily out of their control. While boycotting can send an important political message, the impact of boycotting can be at odds with the intent to do good.
• For example, in Nashville, 73% of the hospitality housekeeping staff are women – meaning an event withdrawal over reproductive health would have a huge economic impact on disadvantaged (women) within the local community.
• In addition, boycotting a destination only serves to create further division. Associations and events are about bringing people together and when a destination is not served, then members and the public are left behind.
• Also, research conducted by Destinations International shows that event boycotts are not effective in making social change. 
• Finally, in the current political climate, many are taking boycotts as a victory. There is an attitude of “good, we didn’t want those people here anyway” which can actually give momentum to the negative policies we are trying to impact.

• Yes, all charities are vetted. We make sure all charities are properly registered with the IRS as 501(c)3 charities. We check to see if they are listed through BBB, Charity Navigator, GiveWell, CharityWatch,  or Guidestar. We prefer that charities contribute the majority of their funds to programs and services, as opposed to administrative overheard. However, we recognize that some very impactful local charities may not yet be able to meet these criteria. In these cases, we have an application process to vet the charity to ensure your donation is being put to good use.
• Yes, you can recommend a charity. Please send us an email at info@socialoffset.org.

• Racial Justice
• Reproductive Freedom
• LGBTQ+ Equality
• Environmental Sustainability
• Housing Security
• Hunger Relief

• We are currently accepting pilot campaigns as part of our soft launch. Please complete the form here: http://socialoffset.org/start-an-event-campaign/ or schedule a call here: https://calendly.com/socialoffset/discovery20?month=2023-01 for more information. 
• To cover the charges we will incur to create your page, we will charge a flat service fee based on your organization type. The soft launch pricing is $750 each for nonprofits including associations, and $1500 each for for-profit corporations and other businesses. As part of our commitment to inclusion, please let us know if this fee will be a barrier so we can discuss.
• SocialOffset is a values-based organization. Please know that if your goals don’t align with our goals of social justice, we may say “no, thank you.”

• 100% of individual donations go to the charities supported, not SocialOffset. If you are an individual, please give your money to the charities listed through our SocialOffset website. If you are a destination, DMO, CVB, or a business, please reach out to us so you can support our efforts through sponsorship. We rely on you to help us create campaigns, vet charities, and cover our administrative costs (for example, web hosting, accountants).

• We have found these lists to be particularly helpful. (Please let us know if you know of other resources.)

  • Racial Justice
    •  https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/scorecard/2021/nov/achieving-racial-ethnic-equity-us-health-care-state-performance
    • https://www.splcenter.org/hate-map 
  • Reproductive Freedom:
    • https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/dashboard/abortion-in-the-u-s-dashboard/
  • LGBTQ+ issues
    • https://www.hrc.org/resources/state-scorecards
    • https://www.lgbtmap.org/equality-maps
    • https://climate-xchange.org/network/map/
  • Housing Security
    • https://www.usich.gov/tools-for-action/map/#fn[]=1300&fn[]=2900&fn[]=6400&fn[]=10200&fn[]=13400
  • Hunger Relief
    • https://map.feedingamerica.org/
  • Election Laws:
    • https://www.mapresearch.org/democracy-maps/ratings_by_state

The prototype launched at ASAE Annual Meeting in August of 2022 and the pilot soft launch was in January of 2023. You can review a list of the charites supported through SocialOffset on our Discover Local Charities page here: http://socialoffset.org/discover-local-charities/