New fundraising platform asks people to lead by example
Melanie May | 3 December 2015 | News
A charity fundraising platform that asks the person seeking donations to commit their own money officially launches today (Thursday 3 December).
Pledgit aims to encourage people to donate by asking the fundraiser to lead by example by becoming a pledger and matching donations up to a certain level, (his or her ‘cap’). Alternatively, the fundraiser can ask a company to match donations on their behalf. Companies can also be pledgers in their own right. Length of campaign can be anything from a ‘flash’ one-day concept, or run over several weeks or months.
The co-founders of Pledgit, father and son team Philip and Billy Jenks were inspired to create the platform after signing up for a charity event and realising that they did not want to ask people to donate without making it clear that they were also contributing.
Philip Jenks said:
“This approach to matched fundraising has so many benefits, but what it really promotes is an ethos of leading by example and being prepared to commit your own money as well as to ask for it from others. It doesn’t matter if the pledge is for £50 or £50,000. The important thing is the principle.”
A number of charities and celebrities have already signed up to PledgIt, including Jenny Seagrove, who is raising money over a six-week period for horse rescue charity Mane Chance Sanctuary, of which she is a founder. She is matching donations up to £3,000.
Other celebrities with campaigns include Nick Knowles, who is raising money for Walking with the Wounded, and Matt King who plays Super Hans in Peep Show, who is fundraising for Glass Door Homeless Charity.
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.