Uber’s ‘Donate’ rides raise $300k in 48 hours
Howard Lake | 6 January 2015 | News
Users of taxi mobile app company Uber last month donated over $300,000 in just two days through a new top-up to donate function. The beneficiary was No Kid Hungry, a US nonprofit working to end childhood hunger in America.
Uber created a new class of ride called ‘Donate’. Users choosing that type agreed to be charged an addition $5, which was donated in full to the nonprofit.
The company had hoped to raise enough to fund three million meals for children to be provided by the charity. The function proved so popular though that the money raised was enough for over five million meals.
In-app donations?
According to Charitweet, Uber achieved this fundraising success by handling in-app donations, in defiance of Apple’s policy on in-app donations which states that they are not permitted. Donations to charities in apps must be completed via text or the web (using the Apple Safari browser) – not within the app.
Charitweet applauded Uber’s approach on the grounds that it made giving easy, saying:
“We applaud Uber for disrupting the system in a positive way – but isn’t it time to make donations easier for all involved?”
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They also set up a petition to Apple on Change.org to ask the company to do precisely that by allowing in-app charitable donations. At the time of publication it needed another 362 signatures.
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.