Fundraising Websites

Howard Lake | 4 July 2012

Fundraising Websites – What to Look for When Choosing the Right Fundraising Website

Fundraising websites have captured the market as they have a host of innovative ideas and powerful tools to help market your cause. Before you select the right fundraising website you must clarify certain points to yourself for effective return on investment. You must have clear answers to questions like how much money does your charity receive? What is the return on investment? When and how will the charity be paid? How much resource will it take to promote the service?

Your top concern when choosing a good fundraising website is of course the return on investment whether time or monetary, and of course the protection of your charity brand name and database. You do not want an external company bring your name into disrepute; therefore contacting other charities the fundraising companies work with is generally a good idea.

Another important aspect is to ask whether the fundraising website has an existing pool of donors/users. If yes then it is a great advantage. Already having existing donors/users means that the website is already established, moreover you may benefit by gaining new funds new supporters outside of your own database.

The look and feel of the website is also a factor. You would like your brand to be associated with very good partners, and therefore the functionality and usability of this fundraising website is something to consider. It is not a good idea to associate charity brand with a fundraising company that does not take any pride in its business offering to you. Before you sign up to any programs, it is worth doing your due diligence by checking the technology company uses and any other charity partners they have already signed up with.

Be sure to know exactly how much you will be receiving fundraising website. He received the full 100% donations, or do the organisation taking the managing payments. This is often the case and it’s fair. Fundraising website is providing service, and without this service the charity would not be raising is extra funds. In order to run fundraising websites, the companies need to pay for outgoings such as developers, staff and payment charges. For this reason, a small fee is acceptable.

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.