Small charities still “missing out on online donations”
Howard Lake | 7 January 2015 | News
Many small charities are still not accepting online donations via their own website, according to research by charity payment processing specialist Charity Checkout. Their survey of 5,214 charities over the past two years found that 71% do not accept online donations.
Charity Checkout’s founder Chester Mojay-Sinclare says that the contrast between national charities and local ones has never been so stark. He said:
“Whilst the majority of local charities are do not accept credit and debit card payments online, large charities are investing more in technology year on year. We must reduce the technical and financial barriers to payment processing for smaller not for profits, or it will not be too long until we start to lose our local community based charities entirely.”
Charity Checkout aims to make online payments accessible to all good causes, irrespective of size. Last month it expanded its service to social enterprises and very small charitable organisations.
Over 55% of its charity clients are new to online fundraising and more than 75% have previously never offered regular giving via their website.
Mojay-Sinclare argues that local charities can no longer rely on donations in cash and cheques alone. A recent report by payments association Apacs states that 2015 will see the number of payments made by cash in the UK overtaken by other methods of paying. Charity Checkout reports that the average online donation on its site has grown by 32% over three years to £69.70, whilst the number of gifts is increasing. Charities that are not accepting online donations should, Mojay-Sinclare contends, be preparing for this now.
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Online giving growth for Harrison’s Fund
Harrison’s Fund is a small charity that has benefited from starting to accept online gifts. The charity, which is working to find a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, has used Charity Checkout to offer credit and debit card processing since October 2012. Since then the charity’s online giving has grown to over £10,000 a month.
The charity’s founder, Alex Smith, said:
“We have seen a sharp increase in the number and value of donations being made to the charity over the last year. Since investing in online fundraising with Charity Checkout we have experienced a wave of support for the charity, which has begun to spread virally across the internet. This new-found funding will enable us to fund even more research to stop Duchenne.”
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.