Justgiving
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| Justgiving | |
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| Type | Ltd |
|---|---|
| Founded | London (2000) |
| Headquarters | Old Street, London, England |
| Industry | New Media |
| Website | www.justgiving.com |
Justgiving is a private for-profit company formed for the administration of charitable donations in 2000. The company's website provides online fundraising tools to enable the electronic collection of donations. Justgiving provides its service for more than 2,100 UK registered charities. The administrative function includes the automatic reclaiming of Gift Aid on all donations from UK taxpayers.
More than £100 million has been raised through Justgiving since its launch.[1] Charity Times claimed the company had “transformed the face of donating in the UK”.[2]
Justgiving’s headquarters are at 20-24 Old Street, London. It has a sister company, Firstgiving, located in Davis Square, Somerville, Massachusetts. Justgiving is led by Founder and CEO Zarine Kharas and MD Anne Marie Huby.
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[edit] Business Model
Justgiving charges a 5% transaction fee on donations made through its website. Charities have to be registered with Justgiving to receive donations. Charity registration requires a subscription fee of £15 per month as of 1 April 2002. Prior to that date, charities could register with Justgiving for free.
Charities are entitled to reclaim 28% Gift Aid on all charitable donations from UK Taxpayers, Justgiving facilitates this process by providing the administration of GiIft Aid reclamation. [3]
[edit] Criticisms
Justgiving has received public criticism for using the business model of a private for-profit company [4] including in their own internet forums.[5] Justgiving charges 5% of every donation by way of a fee to cover the cost of running the business.[6] As a for-profit organisation this fee may be used just as any income may be used within a company, and includes distribution by way of dividends to shareholders in the company. Hence it is argued that individuals are personally profiting from charity donations.
Justgiving state that "Fundraising costs in the UK [...] between 15% and 25% (source: www.charityfacts.org). So Justgiving’s 5% represents excellent value, especially for smaller charities with limited resources."[7] Rod Schwartz, previously the Chairman of Justgiving, provides arguments to support the business model in an article in Alliance Magazine [8].
[edit] History
Justgiving was formed in 2000 by former investment banker and City lawyer Zarine Kharas, who wished to harness the power of the internet to increase efficiency in charity giving. She invited current MD Anne Marie Huby to join the company from Médecins Sans Frontières.
The Justgiving website launched in February 2001. It allowed people to donate to charities registered with the site with a credit or debit card online, and offered people doing sponsored events the chance to build their own webpage to collect sponsorship from supporters.
In 2003, Justgiving launched in the United States, changing its name to Firstgiving in 2005.
In 2004, Justgiving beat competition from Expedia, MTV and Friends Reunited to win the prestigious Grand Prix at the New Media Age Effectiveness Awards.
In 2005, the company launched Justgiving SMS which allows people to donate to charities via mobile phones. It also launched the Justgiving Community site.
In September 2005 the company announced that 1 million people had used its site to make a donation to charity.[9]
[edit] Awards
• Winner - Fundraising & IT Services, Charity Times Awards 2004[10]
• Winner – Grand Prix, New Media Age New Media Awards 2002[11]
• Winner – Best Use of the Web, New Media Age New Media Awards 2002[12]
• Runner-up – Fundraising & IT Services, Charity Times Awards 2002[13]
[edit] Flora London Marathon
Justgiving has been the official online fundraising partner of the London Marathon since 2002.
There has been a sharp rise in the level of sponsorship for the race being raised online. In 2001, £20,000 was raised online by London Marathon runners. In 2002 it was £200,000, in 2003 it was £1.2m, in 2004 £3.4m, in 2005 £7m and in 2006 £12m.
Justgiving is also official fundraising partner of the Great North Run, The London Triathlon and The Edinburgh Marathon.
