Volunteers launch online charity donation service
Melanie May | 1 December 2021 | News
A group of volunteers based in Leeds have today (1 December 2021) launched Givto – an online charity donation service that allows people to give to a different charity each month through one direct debit.
Givto was piloted during 2020-2021 with both local and national causes, raising more than £9,000 for 48 charities including Brake, Sense, Yorkshire Dance and Age UK Leeds. It is run by the Better Giving Partnership, a registered charity founded by a group of friends in Leeds and run by volunteers, who set the service up during the pandemic, working remotely during the first lockdown.
Following positive feedback from users and charities Givto is now being rolled out nationwide with plans to expand to local charities in regions across the UK soon.
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Users set up a regular direct debit for an amount of their choice through the Givto website. Each month they get an email asking them to log in to the website to choose one of three good causes available. Once they’ve made their decision, users see a short thank you message from the charity they’ve chosen.
If they don’t choose for any reason, Givto selects one of the three charities at random and sends them a notification to inform them.
The Better Giving Partnership claims Gift Aid on the donations if eligible, and then passes the donation and Gift Aid to the chosen charity, taking a small fee to cover costs. Personal information is not released or passed onto any charities or third parties.
Charities can register their organisation free of charge on the website and the team is encouraging charities to email he**@gi***.org to register their interest for when the service expands further.
Alex Ellis-White, Founder and Chief Executive said:
“I have always been passionate about supporting local causes and I set up Givto when I realised there wasn’t a service out there that gave you the flexibility and choice to support a different cause each month.
“I was very lucky to be joined by a small team of like-minded and hugely talented volunteers to help me get the service up and running who come from a range of backgrounds, from working in the NHS to big finance, and have generously donated their time and skills.
“Givto is run by charity for charity. We don’t make a profit from the service – we are here to bring people and causes together. I am delighted to roll the service out more widely and encourage people and charities across the country to sign up and join the Givto community.”
Sunshine & Smiles was one of the first charities to sign up to the Givto pilot. Based in Leeds, it provides help and activities for young people with Down Syndrome and their families.
Service Manager Ailith Harley-Roberts said:
“It was very straightforward for us. After the initial sign-up there was nothing else we had to do, which for a small charity is really helpful. For us, being featured on Givto paid for activities that directly benefit people – the money goes to a small charity helping people in really practical ways.”
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.