Database Management System for Tracking Real-World Asset Transfers

Abstract

A system and method of processing, within a single procedure, cash equivalents and fix assets from any disposition class. The method includes identifying the benefactor and asset to be donation. Once identified, the asset is classified into one of three disposition classes. The disposition classes are used to determine the value for valuing. Once the value is determined, an impact statement is generated. Depending on the disposition class, the item is either converted to funds directly or through an intermediary. Once the item is converted to funds, the funds are transferred to the identified benefactor.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An electronic market place computer system for facilitating donation of settled funds to at least one of a plurality of benefactors, comprising:
 a non-transitory memory unit for storing a product database and an item database, wherein the product database including a plurality of product records that each correspond to a product description and includes a unique product identifier, and wherein the item database includes a plurality of item records that each correspond to an item to be converted into settled funds and includes an item description, a unique product identifier, a disposition class, and an item value;   at least one computer processor electronically coupled to the memory, the processor configured to carry out the following operations stored as instructions in the memory:
 receive an item description from a donor user device that describes an item that a donor intends to convert to settled funds; 
 automatically search a product database for a product record that corresponds to the item description, wherein the product record includes at least a unique product identifier and a disposition class that indicates a particular method for converting the item to settled funds; 
 automatically generate an item record in the item database upon receiving the item description, the item record including a unique transaction identifier, a status identifier, and a designation identifier, wherein the status identifier is automatically initialized to a first status, and wherein the designation identifier corresponds to a particular unique benefactor identifier; 
 when the disposition class indicates a cash-equivalent class:
 determine a value and a cash-type for the item based at least on data derived from the item record and corresponding product record; 
 provide the value to the donor device in a way such that it can be automatically displayed to the donor; 
 upon receiving an acceptance command from the donor via the donor device, automatically process a transaction to transfer at least part of the monetary amount indicated by the value from the donor to a benefactor, wherein the type of transaction utilized is based on the cash-type; 
 
 when disposition class indicates a brokered fixed asset or a lead-generation fixed asset:
 determine a value and a liquidator for the item based at least on data derived from the item record and the corresponding product record; 
 provide the value to the donor device in a way such that it can be automatically displayed to the donor; 
 upon receiving an acceptance command from the donor via the donor device, automatically provide liquidation details to the donor via the donor device, the liquidation details providing instructions to the donor on how to transfer the item to the liquidator; 
 upon notification from the liquidator that the item has been transferred, process a transaction to transfer at least part of the monetary amount indicated by the value to the particular benefactor; and 
 receive at least a part of the monetary amount from the liquidator; and 
 
 after processing the transaction, update the status identifier to a second status value. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein determining the value for the disposition class of brokered fixed assets includes operations further comprising:
 updating the status identifier to a third status value;   after updating the status identifier to the third status, automatically providing, via a computer network, the item description to one or more electronic liquidator systems;   receiving, via the computer network, a bid amount from the one or more electronic liquidator systems, wherein the bid amount is designated as the value; and   after receiving the bid amount, storing the bid amount in the item record and updating the status identifier to a fourth status value.   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein when the disposition class indicates a cash-equivalent asset, the operations further comprise:
 automatically storing a frequency value in the item record wherein the frequency value indicates that the item is a re-occurring donation; and   based on the frequency value, automatically generating a donation schedule that indicates when to process one or more re-occurring transactions for at least a part of the value; and   automatically storing the donation schedule in the item record; and   automatically triggering the processing of each re-occurring transaction based on the donation schedule.   
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the operations for determining the value for a disposition class of either cash-equivalent asset or brokered fixed asset further comprise receiving an estimated value for the item from the donor via the donor device, and storing the estimated value as the value. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein when the disposition class indicates a cash-equivalent asset, the processing the transaction includes withdrawing at least part of the monetary amount of the value from a financial account associated with the donor. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein when the disposition class indicates a brokered fixed asset or a lead-generation fixed asset and keywords in the item description correspond to at least one of a vehicle mileage and a vehicle model year, the operations for determining the value further comprise selecting either an auction house liquidator or a retail network liquidator based on at least one of the vehicle mileage and the vehicle model year. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the operations for providing the value to the donor device for all disposition classes includes:
 generating one or more impact statements, wherein the impact statements are based on the value and one or metrics provided by one or more benefactors; and   providing the one or more impact statements to the donor device.   
     
     
         8 . A computer-implemented method for using a database system for converting a real-world asset to settled funds, the method comprising:
 receiving, by at least one computer processor, an item description of an item from a donor device;   automatically generating, in an item database, an item record that includes a data structure defining one or more data fields including the description of the item, a unique transaction identifier, a status identifier, and a designation identifier,
 wherein the status identifier indicates one or more of the following statuses during a transaction to donate the item: the item is awaiting one or more bids, the one or more bids have been received for the item, the item has been transferred from the donor, funds have been received for the item, and the transaction has been completed, and 
 wherein the designation identifier corresponds to one or more benefactors; 
   searching, by at least one computer processor, a product database for a product record that corresponds to the item description, wherein the record includes a data structure with fields including an disposition class that indicates a particular method for converting the item to settled funds;   when the disposition class indicates a cash-equivalent asset:
 automatically determine, by at least one computer processor, a value and a cash-type corresponding to the item; 
 provide, by at least one computer processor, the value to the donor device in a way such that it can be automatically displayed to the donor; 
 upon receiving an acceptance command from the donor via the donor device, automatically process, by at least one computer processor, a transaction to transfer at least part of a monetary amount indicated by the value to the benefactor, wherein the type of transaction utilized is based on the cash-type; 
   when the disposition class indicates a brokered fixed asset or a lead-generation asset:
 determine, by at least one computer processor, a value and a liquidator for the item based at least on data derived from the item record and the product record; 
 provide, by at least one computer processor, the value to the donor device in a way such that it can be automatically displayed to the donor; 
 upon receiving an acceptance command from the donor via the donor device, automatically provide, by at least one computer processor, liquidation details to the donor via the donor device, the liquidation details providing instructions to the donor on how to transfer the item to the liquidator; 
 upon notification from the liquidator that the item has been transferred, process, by at least one computer processor, a transaction to transfer at least part of the monetary amount indicated by the value to the particular benefactor; and 
 receive, by at least one computer processor, at least a part of the monetary amount from the liquidator; and 
   updating, by at least one computer processor, the status identifier to indicate that the transaction has been completed.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 when the disposition class indicates a cash-equivalent asset:
 storing, by at least one computer processor, a frequency value in the item record, wherein the frequency value indicates that the item is a re-occurring donation; 
 based on the frequency value, generating a donation schedule that indicates when to process one or more re-occurring transactions for at least part of the value; and 
 automatically storing the donation schedule in the item record; and 
 automatically triggering the processing of each re-occurring transaction based on the donation schedule. 
   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein when the disposition class indicates a brokered fixed asset, determining the value comprises:
 updating, by at least one computer processor, the status identifier to indicate that the item is awaiting a bid;   providing, by at least one computer processor, the item description to one or more electronic liquidator systems;   receiving, by at least one computer processor, the bid from the one or more electronic liquidator systems, wherein the bid is designated as the value; and   updating, by at least one computer processor, the status identifier to indicate that the bid has been received for the item;   upon providing liquidation details to the donor, automatically updating, by at least one computer processor, the status identifier to indicate that the item is being transferred from the donor; and   upon receiving at least part of the monetary amount from the liquidator, updating the status identifier to indicate that at least a portion of the value has been received for the item.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 automatically sending, by at least one computer processor, an electronic communication to the donor device each time the status identifier is updated.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein when disposition class indicates a lead-generation asset, determining the value comprises:
 receiving, by at least one computer processor, an estimated value corresponding to the item from the donor via the donor device; and   automatically updating the item record such that the estimated value is designated as the value.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 when the asset classification value indicates a brokered fixed asset:
 selecting, by at least one computer processor, based upon one or more keywords in the description of the item, either an auction house liquidator or a retail network liquidator, wherein the keywords correspond to at least one of a vehicle mileage and a vehicle model year. 
   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 generating, by at least one computer processor, one or more impact statements, wherein the one or more impact statements are based on one or metrics provided by one or more benefactors and the value; and   providing, by at least one computer processor, the one or more impact statements to the donor device in a way to be displayed to the donor.   
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory machine-readable medium having stored thereon machine-readable instructions executable to cause a machine to perform operations comprising:
 receiving an item description of an item from a donor device;   automatically generating, in an item database, an item record that includes a data structure defining one or more data fields including the item description, a unique transaction identifier, a status identifier, and a designation identifier,
 wherein the status identifier is updated to indicate one or more of the following statuses during a transaction to donate the item: the item is awaiting one or more bids, the one or more bids have been received for the item, the item has been transferred from the donor, funds have been received for the item, and the transaction has been completed, and 
 wherein the designation identifier corresponds to one or more benefactors; 
   searching a product database for a product record that corresponds to the item description, wherein the product record includes a data structure with fields including a disposition class that indicates a particular method for processing a transaction corresponding to the item;   when the disposition class indicates a cash-equivalent asset:
 automatically determine a value and a cash-type corresponding to the item; 
 provide the value to the donor device in a way such that it can be automatically displayed to the donor; 
 upon receiving an acceptance command from the donor via the donor device, automatically process a transaction to transfer at least part of a monetary amount indicated by the value to the benefactor, wherein the type of transaction utilized is based on the cash-type; 
   when disposition class indicates a brokered fixed asset or a lead-generation asset:
 determine a value and a liquidator for the item based at least on data derived from the item record and the product record; 
 provide the value to the donor device in a way such that it can be automatically displayed to the donor; 
 upon receiving an acceptance command from the donor via the donor device, automatically provide liquidation details to the donor via the donor device, the liquidation details providing instructions to the donor on how to transfer the item to the liquidator; 
 upon notification from the liquidator that the item has been transferred, process a transaction to transfer at least part of the monetary amount indicated by the value to the particular benefactor; and 
 receive at least a part of the monetary amount from the liquidator; and 
   updating the status identifier to indicate that the transaction has been completed.   
     
     
         16 . The medium of  claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 when the disposition class indicates a cash-equivalent asset:
 storing a frequency value in the item record, wherein the frequency value indicates that the item is a re-occurring donation; 
 based on the frequency value, generating a donation schedule that indicates when to process one or more re-occurring transactions for at least part of the value; and 
 automatically storing the donation schedule in the item record; and 
 automatically triggering the processing of each re-occurring transaction based on the donation schedule. 
   
     
     
         17 . The medium of  claim 15 , wherein when disposition class indicates a brokered fixed asset, the operation for determining the value further comprises:
 updating the status identifier to indicate that the item is awaiting a bid;   providing the item description to one or more electronic liquidator systems;   receiving the bid from the one or more electronic liquidator systems, wherein the bid is designated as the value; and   updating the status identifier to indicate that the bid has been received for the item;   upon providing liquidation details to the donor, automatically updating the status identifier to indicate that the item is being transferred from the donor; and   upon receiving at least part of the monetary amount from the liquidator, updating the status identifier to indicate that at least a portion of the value has been received for the item.   
     
     
         18 . The medium of  claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 automatically sending an electronic communication to the donor device each time the status identifier is updated.   
     
     
         19 . The medium of  claim 15 , wherein when the disposition class indicates a lead-generation asset, the operations for determining the value further comprise:
 receiving an estimated value corresponding to the item from the donor via the donor device; and   automatically updating the item record such that the estimated value is designated as the value.   
     
     
         20 . The medium of  claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 generating one or more impact statements, wherein the one or more impact statements are based on one or metrics provided by one or more benefactors and the value; and   providing the one or more impact statements to the donor device in a way to be displayed to the donor.