Charity Checkout to handle donations to social enterprises and very small charities
Howard Lake | 17 December 2014 | News
Online payment processing company Charity Checkout is now starting to handle donations and payments to very small charities (‘micro-charities’) and social enterprises.
Until now, organisations had been required to register with HMRC or the Charity Commission before they could join and benefit from this and similar platforms. As a result these small organisations and social enterprises could face difficulties growing.
While there are 160,000 charities registered in England and Wales, there are at least that number of voluntary organisations who are not registered, of which around 80,000 are so small that they fall below the threshold for registration, which is currently an annual income of £5,000.
Now these charities and social enterprises can start accepting online donations and payments.
David Bartram, Ventures Manager at UnLtd, commented:
“It can be a catch-22 for many new charities and social enterprises as they are often too small to register as a charity, yet unable to access payment services without that all-important registered status. This leaves them unable to secure the initial funding required.”
Chester Mojay-Sinclare, founder of Charity Checkout, put the new policy in the context of the growth in crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. He said:
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“These days anyone can set-up a crowdfunding appeal, yet accepting donations directly has always been difficult for the smallest charities. We aim to make online payments accessible to all good causes, and even offer discounts for smaller organisations to ensure this.”
Charity Checkout front page
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.