Frequently Asked Questions

About ECHOage

Don’t see your question here? Feel free to submit your question to info@echoage.com, or for charity specific inquiries, charities@echoage.com and we’ll quickly get back to you.

  • How does ECHOage work?

    Guests are invited to an ECHOage birthday party online. Instead of bringing a wrapped and packaged present, guests simply RSVP and give a secure online contribution. Payments are pooled for the purchase of ONE special gift for the birthday child that he/she chooses and to support ONE meaningful cause of the birthday child's choice.

    ECHOage arranges everything for you:

    The host parent receives funds from ECHOage in the mail for the purpose of purchasing the ONE meaningful gift for the birthday child. ECHOage mails funds to the charity chosen by the child, and the host parent receives an official tax receipt.

    ECHOage deducts 15% from the total raised at each party for the administration of the ECHOage website.

  • How does my child benefit from having an ECHOage party?
    There are many benefits that your child will experience from having an ECHOage birthday party. The greatest benefit is that your child will be able to make meaningful choices and have a positive impact on others, and on society, at the time of his/her birthday. This, in turn, will empower and reward your child. Your child will be able to read birthday wishes from all of his/her friends.  Your child will be able to view on the ECHOage Tracker all of the funds that have been raised for his/her gift and for the charity that has been chosen.
  • How do my guests find out that my child is having an ECHOage party?
    The invitation to an ECHOage party lets your guests know that your child has decided to do something special. Invitations tell your guests the date, place and time of your party as well as any additional information you input after you have chosen your invitation style. All ECHOage invitations kindly request that your guests make an online contribution to the party instead of bringing a gift. All ECHOage invitations tell your guests about the charity your child has decided to support at the time of his/her birthday.
  • How does my child get the ONE meaningful gift and how does the charity get the donation?
    The parent of the birthday boy/girl purchases ONE meaningful gift with the funds sent to you by ECHOage. The gift is yours to choose. The ECHOage system pools all the contributions that come into your party for you. Once all of your guests have responded and contributed, ECHOage deducts a 15% service fee. Then, the money is split in half. One half is sent to you, the parent of the birthday child, to buy ONE meaningful gift. The other half is sent to the charity you have chosen by ECHOage, and you receive an official tax receipt in the mail.
  • How do I convince my child that it is 'better' to receive ONE meaningful birthday present rather than many small ones?

    Tell your child that he/she will now be in the driver's seat.  The birthday child gets to choose his/her own gift. And, even better, the birthday child gets to choose ONE charity to support and this means they will be helping other kids.  

    Ask your child to think about the one gift that he/she would like to have from all his/her friends. Children might want a musical instrument, something electronic or a special item that may be costly and can be bought when all the guests contribute and the funds are pooled together.

    Your child is likely sensitive to environmental issues because of what he/she has learned at school.  Tell your child that he/she can do something significant to help the planet by having an ECHOage party because all the packaging and plastic associated with many gifts is removed by receiving only one present.

  • How do I choose an invitation and email it out to my guests?

    The black button on the left hand side of the ECHOage website says: ECHOage YOUR PARTY. Clicking that button will take you to a sign up page. After easily completing the information for sign up, you can choose an invitation style. Then, you choose the charity you would like to support. Then, you enter in the details of your party, the names of your guests, the email addresses of their parents and press Send Invitations - that's it! 

  • What does it say on the ECHOage birthday invitation?

    Each ECHOage birthday invitation says:

    You are invited to help change the world today. It’s easier than you think.

    Instead of bringing a wrapped and packaged present, please RSVP and give a secure online gift. Your payment will go toward the purchase of ONE special gift and help support ONE meaningful cause.

    Together we will be helping Evergreen - a charity that plants gardens and trees in school playgrounds so that kids can enjoy healthy, green spaces. (for example)

    ECHOage will arrange everything for you.
    No need to drive, shop, wrap or even pick up the phone to make a donation.

    Can’t wait to see you at my ECHOage party!

  • What will my guests see when they RSVP to my party?
    When your guests RSVP to your ECHOage party, they will be able to send you personalized and relevant information about their child. They also send your child a special birthday message. And finally, they can contribute to the gift portion. The contribution page offers guests an amount between $10.00 and $40.00.  The amount is chosen by the guest and confidential to anyone but the host of the party.  The guest enters their credit card information using the secure ECHOage payment system. It is simple and quick.  A confirmation arrives by email as well as an ECHOage AWARD for the child who will attend the party.
  • What do I do if my guest tells me they did not receive the invitation?

    Please ask your guest to check their "junk" or "bulk" mail folder.  It is possible that some mail programs will flag the invitations as Spam incorrectly, but this is not the norm. 

    Ask your guest to go to the FIND A PARTY tab on the ECHOage homepage.  This will help you guest get a new invitation in seconds.

    You can easily resend an invitation to any guest on your list by going to your ECHOage Tracker and clicking the "send" icon beside their name.  This will send only one invitation instead of resending to your whole list.

  • How does the money portion of ECHOage work?
    Guests are kindly asked to make an online contribution for the purpose of buying the birthday child ONE meaningful gift and giving to ONE charity that the birthday child has chosen. ECHOage pools the funds that are contributed to the party. Then, ECHOage divides the money from the party in half after deducting a 15% administration fee.  ECHOage sends the host parent the funds for half the money that was contributed at the party. ECHOage sends the charity of the child's choice the other half of the money that was contributed at the party. The charity sends the host parent an official tax receipt.
  • What lessons might I expect my child to take away from an ECHOage party?

    There are many lessons that your child can glean from having an ECHOage birthday party. The most important is that your child will have the ability to have a positive impact on the lives of others.
    ECHOage gives your child a hands-on, realistic way of doing something to help others in need and to help the planet.

    There are additional lessons your child might learn from having an ECHOage party. He/she may learn:

    • to take a leadership role in his/her community
    • the value of influencing others to do good for the world
    • creative solutions to environmental and societal problems
    • compassion
    • empathy
    • how to manage finances and money

     

  • What if I love the idea of ECHOage but I am unsure about asking people to contribute funds online?

    ECHOage has received feedback from parents who have been guests and hosts at ECHOage parties and overwhelmingly people are thrilled with the service.  Guests are particularly pleased when they receive an ECHOage invitation because they can give a meaningful gift in just a few moments instead of having to drive to the toy store, select a gift, wrap it, find a card etc.  ECHOage makes it all simple and meaningful. Your guests will surely thank you!

     

  • What DOESN'T ECHOage do?
    ECHOage does not come to your birthday party or change the party you wish to have in any way.  ECHOage adds meaning to your party.  We handle the RSVP, gift-giving aspect and make it simple for your guests and for you.  ECHOage includes a page of birthday wishes for the birthday child, notifications for RSVPing, reminders to attend the party, Thank You Notes, and Awards for each child that attends an ECHOage party.
  • What if my guests are not RSVPing to my party?
    ECHOage automatically sends out a reminder to your guests to RSVP to a party 1 week prior to the party date, if they have not done so already.  ECHOage has found over time that people tend to RSVP to a party closer to the party date.  You can email your guests to ask them to RSVP if you are eager to get the responses but most people RSVP around one or two weeks prior to the party date.
  • What if I want to donate to a charity that is not listed on the ECHOage website?

    ECHOage selected charities that are dedicated to improving the lives of children. ECHOage presents an opportunity for you and your child to engage in a discussion about what the ECHOage charity partners do and how they improve society. Once your child learns that some of his/her birthday money will go to children in need, he/she will likely be able to choose one of the charities that ECHOage has pre-selected. You will also find that your child feels great about having helped others just by celebrating his/her birthday.

  • How do I receive the funds that my guests have contributed online?
    When you are ready to “CLOSE” your party, simply click the CLOSE PARTY button on your ECHOage Tracker. The ECHOage Tracker is the place where you will see all the information relating to your guests and their RSVP responses. Very soon after closing your party you will receive your funds in the mail from ECHOage for half of the money that was paid to your party—this is the money you will use to buy your child ONE meaningful birthday gift. The other half of the money will go directly to the charity that you have chosen - and you will receive an official tax receipt in the mail.
  • Do the guests of my party get tax receipts from the charity I have chosen?
    No. Your guests do not get tax receipts when they give an online contribution toward your child’s ECHOage birthday party. Only the parent hosting an ECHOage party gets a tax receipt for the portion of money that was donated to the charity of their choice. 
  • How does ECHOage use the 15% administration fee?
    ECHOage is a social enterprise that is motivated by the opportunity to improve the world, one birthday at a time.  In order to make this possible and effective, ECHOage must cover costs associated with all the payment processing, website functioning and maintenance, and ensuring the service is of the highest quality.  To do this, ECHOage encurs enormous costs.  The 15% administration fee does not cover even a fraction of the costs associated with running the ECHOage website.
  • What if my child is too young to learn about charities and the environment but I would still like to have an ECHOage party?
    No child is too young for ECHOage. ECHOage teaches a child of any age that giving to others is a rewarding and positive experience.  Even a very young child can absorb this message and understand that he/she has helped other children and the planet just by hosting an ECHOage party. Many parents across North America are choosing to ECHOage their child's 1st birthday party in order to start celebrating in this way and to make it easy for guests to RSVP and contribute.  
  • How do I as a parent benefit from having an ECHOage party?
    ECHOage benefits parents:
    • By creating invitations for your party online, and eliminating the time and money wasted by purchasing invitations and filling them out by hand.
    • By providing the online RSVP management system, called the ECHOage Tracker, so you can know who is coming to the party.
    • By providing relevant information on each child coming to your party: whether or not they have allergies or special needs and an emergency contact number so you can reach the parent if necessary.
    • By providing online thank you notes.

    These are some of the tangible benefits of ECHOage.  In addition to all the convenience ECHOage brings, you the parent get to impart your values to your child in a meaningful way and you give your child an opportunity to do something to improve the world and feel good about giving.