To show even a domain name can be bought and put to good use, the Bank of Zurich recently bought the domain name help.co.uk for £500,000 (approx. US $1m) on behalf of the Help Organisation. The aim is to raise tens of millions of pounds for charities.
To show even a domain name can be bought and put to good use, the Bank of Zurich recently bought the domain name help.co.uk for £500,000 (approx. US $1m) on behalf of the Help Organisation. The aim is to raise tens of millions of pounds for charities.
Launching on April 21, 2008, www.help.co.uk will assist charities of all sizes to save time and make more money by enabling them to take credit and debit card donations, fundraising support and gift aid processing, all under one roof. The organisation is targeting £10 million for charities in its first year and will expand from there.
Only 10% of UK charities currently have credit card clearance facilities and, with most raising less than £10,000 a year, bank charges often bar them from accessing this form of giving. Help.co.uk offers an online payment and fundraising service to all UK registered charities, regardless of their size, with no set-up, registration or monthly fees. The site's database holds all 191,000 charities registered in the UK.
In addition, charities missed out on more than £900m in 2007, because donors failed to make the most of tax efficient giving. All donations made through help.co.uk will automatically collect the government's gift aid tax top-up, adding 28p to each £1 donated (subject to UK tax payers).
Roger Cresswell, Help's finance director, says: "All UK charities should be able to benefit from online giving without having to bear the costs associated with operating a secure website. And our tax savvy services will make sure 100% of gift aid is attached. Help.co.uk can save charities money - and boost their donations - so that more cash goes directly to good causes."
Help.co.uk uses advanced security features, and its sophisticated technology makes it capable of processing hundreds of donations per second. Work is underway to increase the site's database to 325,000 good causes over the next 12 months by including all non-profit organisations as well as charities.
Cresswell adds: "The web is becoming the primary fundraising channel for charities and, thanks to the Bank of Zurich, we're able to offer UK charities a name that will be automatically remembered by online donors."
All UK charities featured on the site are invited to register to benefit from extras including access to donor information and a profile page. Smaller charities, which may find it costly to raise funds and track donations, are likely to benefit the most. The company takes a small processing fee from the total donations received to cover administration costs, but does not charge any subscription fees.
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