Micro-donations are contributing to a shift in the charitable giving landscape. Micro-donations can be mobilized within a short timeframe and add up quickly, therefore they can make a great impact.
Due to technological progress in mobile payment technologies and a further reduction in transaction fees over the past years, micro-donations yield tremendous potential for charitable fundraising from the public. Already today, a number of charitable fundraising platforms leverage the potential of micro-philanthropy and collect micro-donations for good causes.
The following is an overview of mobile platforms collecting micro-donations as low as US$1.00:
1. ShareTheMeal: Collecting micro-donations for the World Food Programme, the Sharethemeal mobile app allows users to make micro-donations toward solving world hunger. With the aim of appealing to millennials, Sharethemeal’s strategy is to make donations as frictionless and as transparent as possible. (sharethemeal.org)
2. OneRelief: OneRelief is a mobile donation platform that is collecting micro-donations for humanitarian relief aid, providing rapid funding for relief aid to affected communities. Especially during humanitarian emergencies, every donation counts. An immediate launch of fundraisers after a disaster has struck allows mobilizing donations noticeably before international funds are released. The platform collects micro-donations through Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal — and users don’t have to sign up or register. It takes less than 20 seconds to make a micro-donation ($1-$5). (one-relief.org)
3. Google One Today: A mobile app that enables users to donate $1 a day to their favorite nonprofits. The Google One app allows users to make small donations to causes they care about and immediately see the impact it makes. With a motto of “Give a little, change a lot,” it encourages small donations and calls on users to challenge friends to match them. The Google One app lets users browse causes they care about and see exactly how their contribution will make an impact. (onetoday.google.com)
4. Spotfund: Spotfund is a mobile app that lets users donate $1, $2 or $3 to causes and current events. The Spotfund platform features a newsfeed about ongoing issues in animal welfare, the environment, and human health and services. Using a token system that users can buy from within the app, users can contribute $1, $2, or $3 to causes and events they care about, as well as share the action on Facebook or Twitter to encourage others to join in. (spotfund.com)
Mobile giving through micro-donations is a way to enable individuals to have a voice, to show solidarity, and to take action. Easy-to-use mobile fundraising platforms are shaping the new reality of philanthropy — and constitute the future of mobile giving.
© Peter Prix, CEO and Founder of OneRelief. Find out more at one-relief.org or follow us on Facebook @OneReliefApp and Twitter @OneRelief.
