Abila Helps Facilitate Bitcoin Donation to the University of Puget Sound

Abila today announced that its Millennium solution has helped record what is thought to be the first bitcoin gift to an American college.

Bitcoin entrepreneur Nicolas Cary ’07 made the unrestricted gift of 14.5 bitcoins (valued at $10,000) to the alumni fund at University of Puget Sound, a liberal arts college in Tacoma, Wash., in February. Abila provides software solutions dedicated to serving dynamic membership associations, nonprofit organizations, higher education institutions and government agencies.

Abila’s Millennium is a comprehensive donor relationship management tool that provides organizations with a 360-degree view of donation activity, communications received, events attended, and personal relationships. It supports an organization’s entire development strategy including events, campaigns, and memberships.

A record kept by the bitcoin wiki that lists nonprofits accepting bitcoin donations supports the idea that this is first bitcoin gift to a U.S. college.

“Virtual currency is a completely new category in the nonprofit and associations industry and organizations should be prepared,” said Krista Endsley, CEO, Abila.

“Software systems should be able to accept these different kinds of digital currencies and support the transactions throughout the entire process. Abila’s Millennium tool is designed to enable and support transactions of all kinds. Abila is excited to be part of this ground-breaking event.”

“Abila’s Millennium is a great tool for recording this type of gift because it is flexible enough to easily add a new tender type and gives us the ability to track every piece of the transaction,” said Sean Vincent, director of university relations information services, University of Puget Sound.

“We were able to attach all the transaction receipts to the corresponding record, capturing all the vital information in one place.”

Launched in 2009, bitcoins are traded and managed through a peer-to-peer technology network that has no central owner. The digital currency is used via mobile or desktop devices. The fees are a fraction of the cost of credit card transactions, and transfers take seconds. Individuals can buy or sell bitcoins using U.S. dollars or other currencies on private exchanges around the world. Users store their bitcoins electronically in an encrypted digital wallet, such as the one offered by Blockchain.

Cary, who graduated with a bachelor of arts degree from Puget Sound in 2007, is the CEO of Blockchain, which runs a “digital wallet” for bitcoins. The company currently offers three services: a secure digital wallet that allows individuals to securely store and spend bitcoins; access to a public ledger tracking all the bitcoin transactions worldwide; and a popular information site, including news, prices, statistics, and links to bitcoin services.

“We were the first organization in Canada to issue tax receipts for bitcoin donations,” said Jason Shim, digital media manager, Pathways to Education Canada.

“It’s an interesting and innovative way to engage the tech savvy audience that is looking for places to use their bitcoins. What Abila's Millennium solution offers is quite forward thinking and exciting for the industry.”

About Abila

Abila with Avectra, now an Abila company, serves strategic leaders and managers in dynamic nonprofit organizations, associations and government agencies with comprehensive membership management SaaS and software solutions. Organizations trust Abila to simplify and streamline accounting, donor and grant management and large scale fundraising processes so they can perform their best work and focus on delivering their unique mission. For Abila, it’s personal and backed by a team with more than 50 years of experience dedicated to helping organizations achieve their vision.

For more information about Abila, please visit http://www.abila.com/