Coronavirus: companies offering free or enhanced fundraising services
Howard Lake | 17 March 2020 | News
As charities and fundraisers gear up to a new way of working amid the impact of the novel coronavirus, plenty of companies are stepping up to offer free or enhanced tools or services to help them.
While many are genuine, there will be some that are little more than promotional or sales exercises. So we don’t intend to produce a detailed or updated list, but there are some established suppliers making some offers so we are sharing those.
To be clear, their appearance here does not constitute our endorsement. We simply hope that some readers might find them useful.
1. Matched giving from The Payroll Giving Team
We are launching a #EmergencyMatchFund to support our charities at this time. We will match any new donation or increase by upto £10 until the end of March. T&C’s apply. Please take a moment to consider taking part. #PayrollGiving #PayrollGivingMovement #WorkforceForGood pic.twitter.com/INYe4wEb6R
— The Payroll Giving Team (@PayrollGivingTm) March 17, 2020
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2. Free communications support to non-profit organisations
London-based Joslyn Hill Communications is making its crisis communications team available on a pro bono basis to all non-profit organisations that require communications support.
Effective from now, the company’s team can help:
- Identify what information needs to be communicated to key audiences, and when
- Share information about changing policies and procedures on business continuity, including events, meetings and travel
- Deliver consistency of information shared in a rapidly evolving situation
- Build confidence that the situation is being managed effectively
- Prepare and manage media enquiries about business operations and potential risks within the organisation
If you are a non-profit organisation that requires immediate support, please email he***@jo********.uk.
3. Free lite version of digital fundraising platform Funraisin
Sample virtual event from funraisin.co
Digital fundraising platform Funraisin has produced a lite-stack version of their product which they are offering for free to charities impacted by Covid-19. The lite version consists of three packages that are being offered “completely free to the charities that are impacted the most”.
Keith Williams, COO at Funraisin, said:
“It is vital to keep fundraisers, fundraising and people giving – so no charities go unfunded and have the risk of dropping or reducing vital services to people and our communities that need it.
“That’s why Funraisin.co has to do something, and are redirecting UK development and support resources to help charities fill a gap with their planned, cancelled or postponed events and campaigns and waiving all of our site fees for charities. We’ll help charities quickly turn live events into virtual events or create a pop-up social campaigns with human social elements to keep fundraisers, fundraising – in a way that’s good for them and the causes they support.”
During this crisis, Funraisin’s “goal for charities is to mitigate and reduce their loss, and to tap into new income opportunities”.
DIY fundraising campaign package from fundraisin.co
Funraisin will commit for a period of time a dedicated team to set up Funraisin lite-stack version for selected charities at no cost. They are attempting to serve as many charities as possible who have been significantly impacted during this time. They ask for patience and understanding as demand is high.
If your charity can use help turning a cancelled or postponed physical event into a virtual event or DIY fundraising, please contact Brendan Rodgers at Funraisin.
4. Free copy of The Digital Fundraising Book
Reason Digital’s MD Matt Haworth is offering his book The Digital Fundraising Book as a free download to help charities who are struggling with fundraising at the moment.
A lot of charities are struggling as donations and fundraising events tail off due to #coronavirus so I'm making The Digital Fundraising book free to do something small to help.
You can now download it here: https://t.co/XPFgmkXJyh pic.twitter.com/dKy3vQs7Lr
— Matt Haworth (@acrim) March 17, 2020
He is also working on a revised edition, and invites anyone who has any suggestions for case studies or from people who “would like to see their work featured” then do contact him.
5. Investors in Community
Investors in Community have waived all sign-up fees for businesses to ensure charities are offered as much support as possible during these difficult times.
The platform allows individuals, community groups, charities and businesses to communicate easily via an online platform, with “100% of donations made through the platform remain[ing] within the charity sector”.
6. Free Bacs contingency processing for two months from Clear Direct Debit
Clear Direct Debit is offering “completely free contingency processing for a two-month period for any organisation [which] registers their Service User Number with their Bureau Number before the 30th of April”.
They say that their aim “is to assist you to run your Direct Debits collections as close to normal as possible, minimising the impact of missed collections when cashflow is of utmost importance and giving you peace of mind.”
They can offer additional support if required, whether “a quick phone call… to ensure your current approach is robust and compliant, or for Bacs accredited training for your team, delivered online”.
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.