Online Fundraising Advice

There are plenty of fundraising  platforms on the market, all of which offer different functionality at different prices. The important thing for charities and community groups  is to do the research and pick the best option for them. Please contact the IT Triage Team and we may be able to assist you with fundraising online:

Email: helen@volunteergalway.ie
Telephone: 0870951707 (Mobile) or 091 581727 (Main Switchboard)

Considerations

  • Fees: A platform fee is the price you will pay to use the online fundraising platform or tool. A transaction or processing fee is the price you pay each time your donors use a credit card to submit a donation to you or one of your fundraisers. A monthly or yearly fee is the amount that you will pay at a defined interval of time to access the software. In some cases, you will often pay different monthly prices for access to certain platform features. Many platforms ask donors to contribute more than the cost of service. Some ask for tips whilst simultaneously charging fees to charities.
  • Functionality:
    • Your chosen platform should easily integrate with your existing online presence be it a website or social media.
    • The more straightforward to use your online fundraising form is, the higher your donation page conversion rate will be.
    • A key component of online fundraising is obtaining and keeping your donors’ trust. Your chosen platform should allow you to maintain consistent branding on your donation page.
    • Your donors shouldn’t have to fill out multiple pages of required information just to give to your organisation. Your platform should only ask for minimal required information when it comes to donating.
    • If you want to start receiving regular donations from your supporters, your chosen platform should support recurring donations.
    • Fundraising software is only as good as the team that’s supporting it. A good support team will be responsive, answer your questions with actionable steps, and help you troubleshoot issues quickly.
  • Access to Donations: Your chosen platform should provide a clear guide on how to monitor and draw down donations. The easier it is to access your funds the better. Avoid platforms that have restrictive or delayed fund transfer policies.
  • Data Protection: A platform might tick lots of boxes, but does it give you the data you need to build relationships with donors and fundraisers, whilst respecting their personal information? Only collect the information you need. Limit access to it to authorised staff. Ensure the donor data is only hosted in the EU and that the chosen platform is fully GDPR compliant.
  • Security and Fraud: As an organization, your data is one of your most valuable assets—your chosen fundraising platform should be committed to helping you protect it. They should prioritize the security of your data and payments through world-class infrastructure partners and independent certification processes.
    • They should be a PCI Compliant Service Provider.
    • Your platform should manages risk and undergoes recurring assessments to ensure compliance with industry data security standards.
    • Your fundraising software should follow coding guidelines are integrated with OWASP best practices. These practices are enforced through static code analysis and peer review of every change made to the platform codebase.
    • Your platform should employ several internal and external protocols to mitigate the risk of online payment fraud. It should be noted that payment fraud is unrelated to the security of your data, but is within the realm of bad actors on the internet. The following interventions should be used to mitigate fraud:
      • Anti-Fraud Machine Learning Models
      • WAF Request Filtering
      • reCAPTCHA
      • Gateway-level fraud features such as AVS, CVV Validation, and Risk Scoring
      • Human monitoring
  • Tax Relief: Donations of €250 or over in a year (or €21 per month) are eligible for tax relief. €250 is actually worth €362 to a charity – at no extra cost to the donator. Your online fundraising page should highlight this to help raise more funds.

Donation Options

  • Donation Links: Most online fundraising platforms support links to pages dedicated to your charity or community group. This links can be sent in communications or published on your website as links or action buttons. Example: Galway Cat Rescue Pay Pal Donation Link.
  • Social Media Plugins: Social media site support donation functionality for non-profit organisations. Enable these plugins on your social media sites to easily raise funds. Example: Croí Heart & Stroke Facebook Donate Button.
  • Website Integration: Most content management systems, including WordPress, provide fundraising plugins for online donations. They usually give a better user experience and more control but can be more challenging to integrate. Example:  GiveWP WordPress plugin.
  • EFT: You can publish your bank details online to allow donations to be directly lodged to your account. Example: Jigsaw Donate by Bank Transfer
  • Bitcoin Address: If your organisation has a Bitcoin Wallet you can send or publish a link to to it to raise funds from donors. Example: RNLI Bitcoin Donations Page
  • Cheque Address: Publish details on your website and on social media to assist cheque donations. Include details on how the cheque should be sent out and who it should be sent to. Example: Laura Lynn Foundation
  • Fundraising Support: Provide directions and support on how people can raise funds on behalf of your organisation. Leverage fundraising support functionality provided by online fundraising platforms. Example : DePaul Organise Your Own Event Facebook Integration.

When fundraising  from the public always follow the charities regulator Guidelines for Charitable Organisations on Fundraising from the Public.