The top new digital ways people are donating to charities

Many UK charities have branched out from traditional on-the-ground and face-to-face fundraising approaches and are embracing digital. Increasingly, fundraising momentum depends on the reach and speed of digital. Here are just a few of the new avenues that digital has opened up for charity fundraising, looking back on some of the great stories we’ve covered over the past few years on Charity Digital News.  

 

 

Text message donation

 

Text message/SMS is still an extremely fast and convenient way to donate, especially for live events and physical advertising campaigns.

 

 

Convenient contactless donations

 

The growth of contactless card payments has inevitably carried over to the charity sector. Contactless donation boxes, donation stations in shops and as part of advertising campaigns or at fundraising events have all made use of this growing trend. 

 

 

The power of the crowd

 

The connective power of crowdfunding brings individual and corporate givers together for a common cause. For charities, a selection of the best, low-cost crowd funding platforms includes Crowdfunder, JustGiving, Chuffed, and Ethex.

 

 

Going viral on social media

 

Global campaigns like ALS’ Global Ice Bucket Challenge, Movember and #nomakeupselfie have raised not only profiles, but funds. In the UK, #nomakeupselfie raised £8 million in six days for Cancer Research UK.

 

 

Facebook donations and Messenger

 

Facebook Messenger is a unique and free way to interact with potential donors and advocates for your cause on a personal, one on one basis. Greenpeace, for example, has been using Facebook Messenger app as a channel to connect with donors around their campaigns and encourage regular donations.

 

 

Donating instantly from Instagram

 

Instagram can be a fantastic channel for fundraising. For example, charities can enhance their donation reach by attaching the Instagram button to their Stories. Some of the first charities to take up the new Instagram Stories includes WWF, and Mind Charity. 

 

 

Twitter for fundraising

 

The limited number of characters available on Twitter doesn’t stop charities from maximising the digital space. 

 

 

Gaming for fundraising

 

Gaining in popularity and speed of donation driving, platforms like Twitch have captured the younger crowd. Demonstrating the power of the platform, champion gamer H.bomberguy played for 57 hours to raise $340,000 for UK charity Mermaids.

 

 

Bitcoin as the new fundraising currency

 

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency are growing in popularity as ways for charities to securely manage philanthropy. First in use by the RNLI, other charities like Breast Cancer Support, and HHUGS have followed suit, potentially allowing them to gain from any upside movement in Bitcoin value.