How to Support a Charity Without Going Broke

We all know there are millions of charity organisations out there that are always eager to receive donations and support from the public, whether it be an online or in-house charity. Nowadays, we also see representatives or employees from a number of charities including World Vision and Oxfam who fill crowded streets, train stations, and shopping centres all over the world to try and convince people to make a donation and support a good cause.

While this is an effective way to gather donations, it also causes people to become irritated and frustrated. Therefore, these charity organisations may not always get the level of results they are aiming for.

There is now an easier and much more effective way to support and donate to a charity. This can be done by simply hitting your enter key on your computer device at home, or wherever you may be. This is perfect for people who don’t usually go beyond liking and sharing posts on social media or signing online petitions.

Folo

Part of The Pure Foundation, Folo is a recently established online browser plug-in that is designed to automatically generate free donations while users make an online purchase which is paid by the retailer. Already, more than 700 retailers have signed up with Folo including Woolworths, David Jones, Sephora, The Iconic, as well as the popular travel website Expedia.

Folo Spokesperson, Jaimee Abcit states “for generation ‘slacktivist’, Folo is an absolute gamechanger; it’s converting online shopping into real positive change. Just 500 people using Folo will generate $15,000-30,000 per annum in donations. A million users could generate $30M-60M.”

There are a number of Australian not-for-profit charity organisations and causes to support, ranging from homelessness to climate change and the arts.

“We wanted people to feel like they were actually giving money away, not like they were forced to donate to charity,” says Abict.

Freerice

Freerice is a not-for-profit quiz website where for every question you answer correctly, ten grains of rice is donated to the United Nations World Food Program − a global charity fighting against world hunger. The more questions you answer, the harder they get and in turn, more rice is donated.

There are a number of subjects to choose from including maths, English, languages, and geography. Whether you’re a CEO for a large company or a young university student, anyone and everyone can take part in these questions which will help further reach the goals of Freerice: to provide free education and to help end world hunger.

Mycause

Known as Australia’s number one online fundraising and crowdfunding platform for causes, its purpose is to allow individuals to donate and raise money to a charity, project, or person of their choice as well as to create their own campaign for free. There are over 1500 charity partners who have partnered with Mycause which includes Heart Foundation, Beyond Blue, National Breast Cancer Foundation, and Animal Welfare League. Mycause and its nearly 160,000 members have already helped raise over 40 million dollars for charities, projects and causes across Australia.

With these options and platforms now available, supporting a charity and making a donation no longer has to be stressful or make you feel guilty for not having enough money.

Are there other charity websites and online platforms that you use to make a donation? Share them in the comments section below.