Save the Children has recently announced it will now accept donations in bitcoin, through a partnership with BitPay.Save the Children, the Global charity, revealed that it started accepting Bitcoin through its personalized BitPay donation page.
This change happened just when the winter holidays are approaching.The Charity’s director of digital marketing and social media, Ettore Rossetti, mentioned that the organization has witnessed generosity from the Bitcoin community already.Now, working with the payment processor BitPay will allow them to keep the full amount of the donations. This will help them cater to even more children.
Head of BitPay’s non-profit outreach, Elizabeth Ploshay, mentioned that Save the Children displays the many advantages of Bitcoin for charities.Using Bitcoins to donate means the process will have no added fees and no minimum donations. Bitcoin-friendly charities can rely on the unconditional support of the increasingly enthusiastic Bitcoin community.Other alternatives like credit and debit cards involve higher fees and entail a risk of donations from fraudulent cards, which might cost bank charges to the charity.Another problem with these alternatives is that small donations are hardly worth collecting.
Rossetti elaborated that Non-profits measure their fundraising efficiency on the cost to raise a dollar.They also keep track of the speed to raise the amount. Previously, donors were required to mail in checks if they wanted to donate. Some people still donate in that manner but this system entails a waiting time for the check to clear.
Using Bitcoin will reduce chargebacks. As BitPay waives all fees for non-profit organizations, more of the net donation is received by the charity.Save the Children helped more than 143 million children scattered around the world last year.They worked in various locations, from the United States to Africa.
This year, the organization will focus mostly on West Africa, because the region is going through the deadly Ebola epidemic.The organization became associated with bitcoin-related campaigns towards the end of last year, when it attended a campaign to boost Bitcoin donations for Typhoon Haiyan Relief.The campaign’s success and Save the Children’s relationship with the BitGive Foundation encouraged the organization to embrace bitcoin donations.Rossetti stated that accepting Bitcoin donations seemed very natural.
The first Bitcoin campaigns by Save the Children have been listed on bitcoingivingtuesday.org and bitcoinblackfriday.com already.Donations from the bitcoin community will benefit the Relief Fund to help fight the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.
Rossetti informed that they need a lot of help to tackle Ebola. They are hoping that bitcoin adoption demonstrates their willingness to innovate and evolve. They want to inspire new donors to donate.Save the Children is working with health ministries in some cities like Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea already.Ebola health centers are being built and caring facilities for children orphaned by the Ebola outbreak are being arranged.Initiatives have been taken to train health workers and provide them with essential medical equipment to help in the region.
