# Why JustGiving dropping their fees is a mixed blessing

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/03/26/why-justgiving-dropping-their-fees-is-a-mixed-blessing/
- Published: 2019-03-26T10:48:32+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**We certainly live in interesting times.  Today JustGiving announced that it is
[removing platform fees](https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/03/26/justgiving-ends-platform-fees-for-uk-charities/)
from all fundraising campaigns and charitable donations in the UK.  This is surely
a cause for celebration, right?  Well yes, absolutely. In the short term at least.**

 

The problem is that in the technology game, like so many places in life, you get
what you pay for.  A race-to-the-bottom in terms of cost is not always beneficial
for technology products. Free services that inevitably become cost centres for businesses
tend to have the proverbial rug pulled out from under them.  We’re all nodding and
whispering “MyDonate”. Blackbaud ([who acquired JG for £95 million in October 2017](https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/10/03/blackbauds-acquisition-justgiving-confirmed/))
have previous on shutting down JustGiving functionality: The closure of JustTextGiving
left many rather stumped about the way forward.  

## Advertisement

 

The big questions that should be raised when a service becomes free are “how will
they fund innovation?” and “how will they fund customer support?”.

 

JustGiving has said that users will be able to make a voluntary contribution to 
support the platform which will be used (presumably in part) to fund innovation.
It’s hard to know how effective this will be. The JustGiving brand is strong and
their acquisition was sensibly quiet enough that perhaps donors will be willing 
to voluntarily support the platform.  Although perhaps more likely the idea of voluntarily
donating cash to fund the R&D team of a NASDAQ-listed American corporation won’t
go down terribly well.

 

As for customer support, therein lies the real problem. JustGiving [does not have a good reputation here](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.justgiving.com)–
and cutting off its supply of cash is unlikely to improve things.  The inconvenient
reality is that if you want to offer world-class support then you’re going to have
to pay for it somehow.  Perhaps we’ll see options for premium support packages being
offered for JustGiving’s larger customers at an additional cost.

 

## You really need revenue

 

In order to offer world-class support, foster innovation, and to be sustainable 
as a business, you really need revenue.  This shouldn’t be thought of as a dirty
word in the sector. Stable, profitable businesses that provide a good service are
a healthy part of the charity landscape and can be kept in check by similarly healthy
competition.  Problems arise when a small number of organisations grow to dominate
the market and use their market dominance as an excuse not to innovate.

 

That’s not to say that the available options are either free and terrible or prohibitively
expensive.  There should be a middle ground. Indeed, there is. And I would argue
that this is where we are going to see all of the interesting, juicy innovation 
over the next decade.  Unfortunately it seems that Blackbaud is operating at the
edges of this spectrum.

 

This all sounds like a lot of doom and gloom.  But let’s not despair. The space 
is evolving, and such changes open up interesting opportunities for new, innovative
entrants who are building sustainable and interesting products.  Just look at the
success of [Donr](https://www.donr.com/text-giving) who swooped in to capitalise
on the JustTextGiving shutdown –  they’re going absolute gangbusters. We’re seeing
new ideas emerging in the charity tech space like never before. The likes of [Wonderful](https://wonderful.org/),
[Localgiving](https://localgiving.org/), and [Goodbox](http://www.goodbox.com) are
good examples of organisations that continue to drive technological innovation.

 

If you want to find the best ideas and to have the best experiences with your technology
providers it’s sensible to seek those with fair and sustainable pricing.  After 
all, there’s no such thing as a free lunch.

 

_**David Simpson** is co-founder and CTO at [Beacon](http://www.beaconcrm.co.uk)–
the modern database for nonprofits. You can follow him on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/500and4)
or connect with him on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjsimpsonesq/)._

 * **[Fund launched to give communities access to a free ATM](https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/10/02/fund-launched-to-give-communities-access-to-a-free-atm/)**(
   2 October 2019)
 * **[Free trees on offer from TCV & OVO Energy](https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/11/08/free-trees-on-offer-from-tcv-ovo-energy/)**(
   8 November 2019)
 * **[Yeo Valley opens applications for free charity fundraising dinners](https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/11/11/yeo-valley-opens-applications-for-free-charity-fundraising-dinners/)**(
   11 November 2019)

![Loading](https://fundraising.co.uk/wp-content/plugins/page-views-count/ajax-loader-
2x.gif)