The Case for Seamless Donations

At Charitweet, we know that any obstacle between donors and donating results in fewer dollars to the cause. Because let’s face it — we’re human. If something is hard, we don’t want to do it… even when it comes to philanthropy. We like the idea of donating to charity, but when it comes to filling out 5 pages of forms, we’re like, “No thanks, I’ve got better ways to spend my time.”

But why would anyone want to make donating to charity difficult? That’s the question we’re putting to Apple with our petition, asking them to reconsider their guidelines regarding in-app donations. As it stands now, Apple guidelines say that the collection of charitable donations has to happen through a website in Safari or through SMS texts.

SO apps can ask you for a donation, but they can’t collect that donation through the app itself. You’ve got to go to a webpage in your browser and enter your card information there. That sounds like more steps and more steps means…you guessed it: fewer donations.

(Meanwhile, buying things through an app has become easier than ever. Store your credit card information one time and then it only takes one tap to spend your life savings on every season of the Good Wife on Amazon…I mean, just as an example of course.)

Just a few weeks ago we wrote about how Uber skirted the rules and enabled riders to donate $5 to their rides through the service to benefit No Kid Hungry. We applaud Uber for thinking differently to do good and we aim to keep coming up with innovative ways of our own to enable more social good to come of social media.

Making donating simple is Charitweet’s reason for being. We thought differently about the donation process, and came up with a solution that would simplify and amplify charitable giving. Now we’re challenging Apple to think different…after all, it is their motto. You can join us, and 650+ others, by signing our petition to make in-app donations possible.

How many problems can we solve when saving the world is as easy as buying stuff?