The Hidden Cost of Online
Fundraisers
Like many rescue
organisations, Moving Paws Inc is active on social media, including Facebook. There are a number of
benefits to social media – we can keep our supporters updated, raise awareness
of important issues, and promote fundraising activities. Platforms like
Facebook are very popular and free to use, so this can be extremely useful for
non-profit organisations like us.
Social media also allows us
to promote our fundraisers in a way we could only have dreamed about a few
years ago.
Recently we have seen a
number of Facebook posts and websites asking for people to vote for particular
charities to receive grants, or to donate to indirect fundraisers via third
party websites. However, some online fundraisers aren’t as straightforward as
they appear.
The voting websites can be
problematic. They will usually ask you to submit some personal details to
‘validate’ your vote. We ask our supporters and friends to be very wary of
submitting personal information, as you are likely to end up on mailing lists
begging for more votes and/or donations. We also cannot vouch for the security
of any personal information you submit to other websites.
External fundraising websites
charge fees for their service. The fees are charged to the charity by being
deducted from donations before any funds are passed on. Some charge monthly or
quarterly ‘platform fees’, and the majority charge transaction fees and credit
card fees. This means that if you donate via a third party website, not all of
your donation goes to your chosen cause. In some cases this can significantly
affect the bottom line of the organisation you have chosen to support.
These websites may work
well for large charities, but for us the fees are prohibitive. We have stopped promoting a
lot of these posts.
There are also websites
promoting pet rescue that solicit for donations – however, only a portion of
the donations actually go to the animals. The rest is used for website costs
and staff salaries. These websites are not directly involved in rehoming pets but
provide a list of adoption organisations along with general information. The
need for these directory-type websites is debatable, as most rescue
organisations have their own websites and social media pages which can easily
be found with an online search. We believe the limited funds available from
fundraisers could be better spent helping rescue organisations directly.
We support transparency in
all forms of fundraising. Before voting or donating online, please review the
website carefully to check where your information and money are going. How are
the donations spent? Are there fees involved? Will you be contacted in the
future or will your information be sold/passed on to other organisations?
The direct approach is
usually best. If you would like to support Moving Paws Inc with a donation
(however big or small), please see our donation page where
we happily provide the details so that you can send it directly to us via
PayPal or our bank account. That way there are no fees or very limited fees
with no commissions – but direct support for our rescued dogs and numerous
expenses.
We (and the dogs) are
extremely grateful for your support.
Thank you for reading!
Please share our blog, browse our website,
and check out Moving Paws Inc on Facebook
and Instagram.
Regards, Debbie - Founder -
Moving Paws Inc.
This blog post sponsored by
Bluehound Content Studio
