A Tech Response to Crisis
There has been a lot of handwringing about the coming charity apocalypse. Canadian charities are facing the most challenging operating environment in at least 80 years. But in any crisis there is opportunity and help. The greatest opportunity for fundraising charities lies, not surprisingly, in online technology.
Disruption drives new way of doing things — often out of necessity. Charities typically face a scarcity of resources for innovation and infrastructure, which makes them more vulnerable in a crisis. The biggest story of the pandemic in charity land has been the embrace of technology to support fundraising and program delivery. As in other areas of the economy, life moved online.
The leader in this shift is the registered charity CanadaHelps. Unlike most charities, CanadaHelps exists to help other charities be better fundraisers and managers. Its mission is “to inform, inspire and connect donors and charities and to democratize access to effective technology and education in the charitable sector.” (Disclaimer: I am a volunteer director of CanadaHelps.)
Biggest charity by donor revenue
Founded in 2000, CanadaHelps spent the first 13 years as an online portal for donors to give to other registered charities. It filled a gap. Now CanadaHelps is well on its way to become the biggest registered charity in Canada by donation revenue and transfers to other charities. In fiscal 2020, it topped $300 million in donations and transferred $288 million to other charities.
Twenty years ago, most charities did not have the resources or volume to develop online portals to receive and receipt credit card donations, so CanadaHelps became that intermediary. A donor could give to any registered Canadian charities and get a single tax receipt from CanadaHelps. CanadaHelps was the first charity to use electronic fund transfer technology so that the end charities received their donations quickly — net of a small cost recovery fee.
CanadaHelps started to transform itself in 2013 with the arrival of current CEO Marina Glogovac. Marina has a depth of experience in publishing (Saturday Night magazine) and technology (CEO at Lavalife). She brought to her new role a fierce ability to see the potential needs of charities — and equally important, to implement solutions. Marina built the leading tech development shop inside a charity in Canada, dedicated to supporting other charities.
Invested in technology
CanadaHelps has developed in three main directions. 1) service for donors; 2) services for charities; and 3) curated cause funds.
First, there are enhancements to the core donor services. CanadaHelps has invested in its technology to improve the donor experience. Donors can search any charity and make a credit card donation from pretty much any device. In their account, a donor can plan and track their giving, and keep all of their tax receipts in one place. (This may be the biggest service of all as almost $2 billion more donation tax receipts are issued than claimed in Canada each year. Somewhere there is a big shoebox holding these lost slips.)
CanadaHelps also introduced online donations of public securities. Again, a single transaction by a donor could support a number of registered charities. The charity started to encourage organizations to provide more information on its platform and feature urgent causes, all of which developed greater donor engagement.
Second, CanadaHelps provides charities with tech fundraising tools. CanadaHelps has relationship with 23,000 of the 86,000 registered charities, of which only 65,000 are active fundraisers. To put this in perspective, CanadaHelps touches more charities than any other entity in the sector except for Canada Revenue Agency, by far.
The move to help charities get better access to reliable technology was the biggest strategic shift in the organization’s history. It is also the most profound benefit to the sector. The shift started when CanadaHelps started viewing charities as clients rather than grant recipients. These are also the services that are seeing explosive growth in the pandemic.
Canada Help now has a range of products for charities in addition to receiving and transferring online donations. It is a software platform with high quality, affordable, easy to use product for charities with no upfront fees or contracts. Products include: Customizable Donation Forms, Peer-to-peer Fundraising, Ticketed Events, and education. Also, they offer bilingual service and security/fraud protection.
Recently CanadaHelps made its biggest bet yet: a “donor management system” that is fully integrated into the online giving experience. While it is early days, small and medium charities, in particular, are adopting this service.
Third, CanadaHelps’ latest offering is cause funds. These are targeted funds, starting with two for COVID relief, that raise funds for a bundle of charities across Canada. This option is proving popular with corporate donors that want to have reach and efficiency. There are even matching gift programs. There are now 30 cause funds including a Black Solidarity Fund and Indigenous Fund.
Good tech is a valuable start
In some way the biggest competitors of CanadaHelps aren’t charities at all. They crowd funding platforms like GoFundMe. Cause Funds and improved technology win donors back to charities. Cause funds in particular are attracting millennial donors who want impact and reach.
While good fundraising tech is not the solution to all of the challenges facing the charities, it is a valuable start. CanadaHelps is a core organization that helps other organizations build and grow — or maybe just survive a bit better.