SINGAPORE: Local online platforms for charitable crowdfunding have emerged into the public gaze after the GIVE.asia website was used in early May to raise nearly S$240,000 in aid of a Singaporean who slipped into a coma overseas.
GIVE.asia is “a free fundraising platform that does not take any transaction fee from your donations”, but there remains a payment gateway charge of up to five per cent deducted from each donation. Similar charges are common to all charitable crowdfunding platforms, although the amount varies.
GIVE.asia hosted more than 250 local charities in 2016 – up from 25 when it launched in 2010. It has also raised nearly S$9 million since. The platform’s nascent years were entirely self-funded by founders and grants from organisations like Singtel, DBS and Community Chest, CEO Aseem Thakur told Channel NewsAsia.
Today, the website relies on optional tips from donors to cover operating expenses like website hosting, accounting, bank charges, supplies, and staff.
“Only recently we could make GIVE.asia sustainable, thanks to the tips of kind-hearted people who see the potential of GIVE.asia to help others escape hardship,” said Mr Thakur.
A screengrab of a campaign on Singaporean crowdfunding platform giving.sg.
“CHEAP AND CREDIBLE”
Another local crowdfunding portal, giving.sg, was set up by the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) to help non-profits seek public donations.
According to the website, donors do not need to pay fees – “If a donor gifts $100 to a charity, the charity receives $100”.
The charities, however, are invoiced for payment gateway charges set at 1.5 per cent of the donation amount – plus Goods and Services Tax (GST). This sum covers giving.sg’s “administrative and service fees for maintaining and running a secure platform … IT security audits and testing and other miscellaneous charges”.
The website is maintained by the NVPC – itself a non-profit charity with Institutions of a Public Character (IPC) status and reliant on government funding.
Local charity Free Food for All Ltd has raised more than S$50,000 over seven campaigns on giving.sg. The most the organisation has had to pay out in fees was around S$600, said founder Nizar Shariff, who added he would continue using giving.sg “because it’s the cheapest around, plus there is more credibility”.
Other crowdfunding platforms running Singaporean campaigns include international brands GoGetFunding and Generosity, the charity arm of Indiegogo.
A screengrab of a campaign on crowdfunding platform Generosity – the charity arm of international brand Indiegogo.
The latter’s payment processor deducts three per cent plus US$0.30 from every donation “to manage fund transfers”, and like GIVE.asia relies on optional donations to cover operating costs.
GoGetFunding, on the other hand, charges fundraisers 6.9 per cent on all funds raised, of which 2.9 per cent are transaction fees applied by its payment processor.
“The features and personal support we provide will help attract extra donations that will more than cover this fee,” said a spokesperson. “We do have substantial operating costs – for example staffing, development, site maintenance to name but a few – that need to be covered.”
“What should also be remembered is that we only charge campaign owners on any donations made through our site, so if they raise nothing, they pay nothing.”
A screengrab of a Singaporean campaign on international crowdfunding platform GoGetFunding.
FEES “SHOULD BE SPELT OUT”
Yip Kai Wan, a Singaporean who has donated S$50 amounts to a variety of campaigns on giving.sg, said she had no issues with the additional fees that come with some crowdfunding platforms.
“It’s only fair. They need money to maintain the pages, boost ads etc., and bank transfers involve costs,” she said. “So I think it’s okay to take a small amount. But it should be spelled out so that donors know and can make an informed decision.”
Breakdowns of the various charges can be found in the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section of the GIVE.asia and giving.sg websites – and Yip, along with some other donors Channel NewsAsia spoke to, suggested this was “not upfront enough”.
“It’s not so nice to put it in the FAQ. You know most people don’t read that – it’s like you’re attempting to hide it. It reduces trust,” said Yip. “Most people would have just believed that the whole amount goes to the charity.”
But she conceded that in the end, “you cannot deny the benefits for the beneficiaries are much better through such crowdsourcing sites”.
Anubhav Shrivastava agreed. He took to GIVE.asia in a bid to cover an anticipated S$350,000 medical bill for the treatment of his four-year-old daughter’s rare strain of lung cancer, and has raised S$167,072.60 so far.
This figure will drop further after subtracting the payment gateway or bank charges.
Said Jamie Yun, who has raised nearly S$670,000 on GIVE.asia for treatment of her daughter Yujia’s rare birth defect: “If the bank can work out something with the crowdfunding platform for such cases, like a lower cut or perhaps no cut, that would be better of course.”
But Mr Shrivastava said he was ultimately okay with it.
“Even if it becomes a sizeable amount ‘lost’, I’m not bothered. As long as people are donating, I’m happy.”
