How charities can maximise international donations

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Maximising international donations has become essential. Charities often find it difficult to transfer money abroad at a competitive rate and, as a result, pay for their international payments. That could mean paying staff on the ground, new initiatives you want to trial, expenses for volunteers. It also means losing money on donations or payments for events.

It’s all part of ‘revenue leakage’ that charities should seek to avoid. On international payments, charities often incur explicit costs, such as an inflated transaction fee. They also incur implicit costs, which is the difference between the interbank rate and the exchange rate the charity is given during a transfer. Banks do not legally have to provide transaction cost transparency. That makes it difficult for charities to judge cost, especially if payments are frequent and markets are volatile.

Charities could save money by shopping around for more affordable rates. They can save money, too, by working with more trusted platforms.  Over the long term, such savings cost could prove monumental, particularly for charities that regularly work across borders, with every small saving arriving with every transaction. In this article, we explore how one UK-based charity saved money by switching to a new international payment solution.

Case study: The Rock of Joy Trust and Currencies Direct

Rock of Joy Trust is a UK-based charity that educates children in Uganda. The charity runs three schools that provide education to more than 1600 primary school students. Rock of Joy Trust was formed in 2007 and, ever since, they have supported the education of vulnerable children and brought clean water supplies and daily meals to the areas they support.

For Rock of Joy Trust, maximising donations had become crucial. The more money they lost to exchange costs, the less they could provide to the children. But they found it difficult to locate providers that could transfer pounds into Ugandan shillings at a competitive rate and, as a result, constantly overpaid for international payments. That was particularly difficult, as they had various payments to make: staff wages, regular donations, new initiatives, and so on.

It was a constant loss of money. Rock of Joy Trust decided to find a currency exchange platform, one that worked with charities, one they could trust. Currencies Direct immediately understood their requirements and sought to provide cost-effective solutions that allowed flexibility for their different payment types. Rock of Joy Trust now have a dedicated account manager watching the market on their behalf. They can download payment information from the Currencies Direct online platform, which can be accessed any time, any day, providing complete transparency.

Switching to Currencies Direct for international payments has saved Rock of Joy Trust huge amounts on foreign exchange, resulting in more funds to help children in Uganda.

About Currencies Direct

Currencies Direct Limited was founded in 1996. The platform provides foreign currency exchange and international payment services for both organisations and private clients. Based in London, the group transacts circa £10bn per year across one million payments. For non-profits, Currencies Direct offer a free, no-obligation consultation to determine the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of your existing international payments solution. 

Currencies Direct boasts loads of features. It provides online bath payments, excellent exchange rates, risk management strategies, immediate and same day international payments, accounts package with ERP integration, API integration options for high volume donations, and payments in more than 35 currencies. The solution can meet individual charity needs.

For more information, click out the offer below.