Twitter users can now donate to charity with a hashtag

http://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sector-network/2015/apr/17/twitter-donate-charity-hashtag

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#Donate, a new social payment platform, enables charities to receive money from tweets and retweets of registered hashtags. Is this the answer to the sector’s fundraising prayers?

What is #Donate?

#Donate is a new system that allows Twitter users to donate to a charity by retweeting or tweeting a hashtag that is registered with the service. The process has been set up by a retail technology company called #Pay. It’s teamed up with the Good Agency to access the charity market.

Related: Penny for London: your two minute guide to how charities can benefit

Charities use the #Pay service, which uses APIs (a set of routines, protocols, and tools for building computer software) to link Twitter and Paypal accounts. #Pay then verifies both accounts as being genuine, at which point the charity is upgraded by #Pay to being a verified merchant. Charities are then able to set up campaign hashtags that enable the public to donate to a cause with a tweet.

How does it work?

The charity has the option to either create a fixed-amount hashtag, say £3, or a flexible one that allows the donor to choose how much they want to give. The charity would have to make it very clear which option it has chosen.

If this is the first time someone has donated via Twitter then they will receive a tweet asking them to verify their PayPal account details. If they don’t have a PayPal account they’ll need to set one up. After they’ve linked their Twitter account with PayPal it’s set up for all future donations.

What would the tweets need to look like?

A charity would need to send out a tweet using the hashtag that is registered with #Pay:

Support our duck appeal and tweet or retweet @duckcharity #duckappeal £3

Then a Twitter follower would need to tweet or retweet using the same hashtag, the charity’s Twitter handle and the amount of money they want to donate. It needs to look something like this:

I want to support @duckcharity #duckappeal £3

They would then receive an automated tweet from the charity:

@Donor Thanks, you’re almost done. Retweet this message to confirm your donation

When the donor has retweeted the donation is confirmed and then it’s up to the charity what confirmation or thank you message it might wish to send.

Related: You snooze you lose – the app that donates to charity while you sleep

How can charities get involved?

Charities need to register on the Good Agency website. A form needs to be filled out and then the charity will be asked to agree for #Pay to access its Twitter account and send tweets on behalf of the charity. The charity can then register a hashtag and tweet it out to its followers (#Pay will manage the responses on the hashtag for the charity).

Are there any charges?

Yes. While charities do not need to pay to register, #Pay deducts 5% of the donation. As the donation goes through Paypal – there is also a charge from them.

If an organisation is registered with the UK Charity Commission or the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, it may qualify for Paypal’s reduced fee rate of 1.4% plus £0.20 per transaction.

What’s the verdict?

Time will tell if this innovation marks the end of slacktivism. It could be an effective way to remove the divide between increasing awareness and fundraising, and it could be the answer to many a fundraiser’s prayers by converting retweets into much-needed money.

However, the process does require quite a bit of effort from the donor – who has to tweet the charity with the correct hashtag and amount, link their PayPal and Twitter accounts and then retweet a reply to confirm. But, it is a step closer to one-click donations, once set up.

At the very least it makes it easier for donors to share their charitable act which – campaigns such as #NoMakeupSelfie and #IceBucketChallenge show – is no bad thing for charities or fundraisers.

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