Donating Bitcoin to charities is on the rise

Brave New Coin

Donating Bitcoin to charities is on the rise

Charities are typically welcoming towards all kinds of donations, in money and in kind. Acceptance of bitcoin donations has been steadily on the rise for several years already, with more and more charities accepting the cryptocurrency both at events and on websites.

Giving USA, a 59-year old publication highlighting philanthropy, estimates that Americans gave $358.38 billion in 2014. This figure shows a 7.1% increase from 2013, and after adjusting for inflation, it’s the highest total since before the Great Recession.

The largest source of charitable giving in the US last year was from individuals, at $258.51 billion. Of these funds 32% went to religion organizations, 15% to education, 12% to human services and grant-making foundations, and 8% to health organizations.

The top five reasons people donate to charity, according to a BBB report, are for emotional satisfaction, recognition, to help the local community, to maximize money’s impact, and personal tax benefits.

As more and more people move their daily activities onto the internet, donations to charities who list themselves online are typically on the rise too. In 2014, online giving grew 8.9% in 2014 compared to 2013, while overall charitable giving grew by 4.9%. 100 of the largest charities reported receiving 13% more in online donations.

Smaller nonprofits grew their online donations the most, according to a Charitable Giving Report, derived from The Blackbaud Index. It’s now easier than ever for new charities to accept funding, but there are costs involved.

PayPal company, Braintree, processes donation payments for GiveWell, an American nonprofit charity evaluator and altruism focused organization. GiveWell is charged 2.7% and $0.30 on each transaction. The fee is taken out on GiveWell’s end which means if you donate $100, GiveWell receive $97.

Bureaucracy, graft, and simple inefficiencies can also whittle a $100 donation down to a single meal for someone, or no real benefit at all. Direct Relief attempts to add transparency with it’s unique map-based tracking system. There are also a number of organisations, including Givalike, that try to highlight the worst, and best, charities to donate to.

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