[2015-04-12] WSJ: Charities Seek Donations in Bitcoin

[pawel7777]

Charities Seek Donations in Bitcoin

http://www.wsj.com/articles/charities-seek-donations-in-bitcoin-1428894121

Charities are often open to all sorts of donations, whether in money or in kind. Now they’re turning to a new source: donations of bitcoin.

Among the charities soliciting donations from bitcoin users are Save the Children, an aid agency that receives hundreds of millions of dollars in donations every year, American Red Cross and Greenpeace.

“There is a sense that this is growing in acceptance in the nonprofit sector,” says Ettore Rossetti, director, social media and digital marketing at Save the Children.
...

[1Referee]

What I mostly don't like about charities/sites that accept Bitcoin donations is that you need to fill in so many details just to give a few bucks worth of coins.

I understand that there are certain rules that they operate under, but instead of asking for so many details, allow people to donate privately.

[pawel7777]

What I mostly don't like about charities/sites that accept Bitcoin donations is that you need to fill in so many details just to give a few bucks worth of coins.

I understand that there are certain rules that they operate under, but instead of asking for so many details, allow people to donate privately.

There are 2 reasons for that. First, as you mentioned - regulations, 2nd - submitting your info + email allow them to send you a receipt, which you can use to get tax deduction.

If you don't want to provide your personal detail, just put the fake name etc.

[1Referee]

What I mostly don't like about charities/sites that accept Bitcoin donations is that you need to fill in so many details just to give a few bucks worth of coins.

I understand that there are certain rules that they operate under, but instead of asking for so many details, allow people to donate privately.

There are 2 reasons for that. First, as you mentioned - regulations, 2nd - submitting your info + email allow them to send you a receipt, which you can use to get tax deduction.

If you don't want to provide your personal detail, just put the fake name etc.

They could also just have an extra option for people who like to donate in a fully private manner without the need to insert fake info.

Doing effort to claim back a certain percentage of your donation is nonsense. Donate in full, or don't.

[pawel7777]

They could also just have an extra option for people who like to donate in a fully private manner without the need to insert fake info.
...

They probably could do such option for small donations, but that could make donation form too complex. Also it could be risky for charities, if they're required by law to collect personal info for donation above certain amount, then if someone used 'anonymous small donation' option but made a large donation, it would create a lot of mess.

...

Doing effort to claim back a certain percentage of your donation is nonsense. Donate in full, or don't.

Not sure what you mean by that. If you meant claiming the tax back - it has nothing to do with claiming % of donations back. You claim back the tax that you've already paid on your income (as charity donations are tax-free).

There's also thing called gift-aid (in UK), which allows you to donate the tax (you could claim back) to charity. So effectively for £1 donated, charity would get £1.25. But again, the charity would need your details + 'gift aid declaration' for that.

[Bit_Happy]

The Wall Street Journal is really giving Bitcoin a lot of attention lately. 

[pattu1]

Similar, though not identical article in Huffington Post today.

More Charities Are Accepting Bitcoins To Tap Into A Younger Pool Of Donors

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/13/charities-accepting-bitcoins_n_7054958.html

Save the Children is thinking ahead when it comes to the ages of its donors -- that's why it decided to go digital.

“We want to remain contemporary and relevant to current and future generations,” Ettore Rossetti, director of social media and digital marketing at the organization, told The Wall Street Journal. “We don’t only want to be your grandmother’s charity, we want to be your grandchild’s charity. One way to do that is to accept Bitcoin.”

[1Referee]

...

Doing effort to claim back a certain percentage of your donation is nonsense. Donate in full, or don't.

Not sure what you mean by that. If you meant claiming the tax back - it has nothing to do with claiming % of donations back. You claim back the tax that you've already paid on your income (as charity donations are tax-free).

There's also thing called gift-aid (in UK), which allows you to donate the tax (you could claim back) to charity. So effectively for £1 donated, charity would get £1.25. But again, the charity would need your details + 'gift aid declaration' for that.

I thought people could claim back some of their donated money, which in my view is nonsense. After reading that I can understand why they want your details. Thanks for clearing that up.

[RodeoX]

One should be able to donate Small amounts with anonymity. For example I could drop a few bucks in the Salvation army bucket without providing any information. All you need is their address and they can't stop you from donating.

[Kprawn]

I donate to charities that accept direct bitcoin transfers. There are too many charities accepting Bitcoin through 3rd parties. {These 3rd parties, get a % of this...some do it for free}

The charities have severals reasons for doing this. {transparency / Tax etc} but it shuts it's income stream by doing this. I can understand the possible embarrasement it might cause, if donations they received from income derived from criminal activities... but some of these charities takes it to the extreme. 

If they have a verified legitimate organization with a official webpage, why not place a Bitcoin address on the homepage and accept direct donations from the public?

[pawel7777]

I donate to charities that accept direct bitcoin transfers. There are too many charities accepting Bitcoin through 3rd parties. {These 3rd parties, get a % of this...some do it for free}

The charities have severals reasons for doing this. {transparency / Tax etc} but it shuts it's income stream by doing this. I can understand the possible embarrasement it might cause, if donations they received from income derived from criminal activities... but some of these charities takes it to the extreme. 

If they have a verified legitimate organization with a official webpage, why not place a Bitcoin address on the homepage and accept direct donations from the public?

That would be very impractical for larger charities.

Right now they can use Coinbase or BitPay which (99% sure on this) don't charge any fees to charities.

If they were to set up their own wallets it would generate a lot of extra costs, which could even outweigh the value of BTC donations. They would need to train X number of staff on how to handle bitcoins, establish safe storage system, register to BTC/fiat exchange (pay the fees there), probably set some sort of internal control/security system (decide who controls private keys etc.), not to mention extra work for their accountants.