On 1 December, a group of volunteers based in Leeds launched ‘Givto’ a new online charity donation service. It’s the first of its kind in the world and allows people to give to a different charity each month with one simple direct debit.
Givto was piloted with a small number of people, and national and Yorkshire charities during 2020-2021, raising more than £9,000 for 48 charities including Brake, Sense, Yorkshire Dance and Age UK Leeds. The feedback was so positive that Givto is now being rolled out nationwide.
It could be likened to the online version of the charity token scheme in supermarkets. Using the Givto website: www.givto.org people decide how much they want to give every month, and are offered three good causes to donate to, whether these are causes they hold dear, or some they have never even heard of.
Givto is run by the Better Giving Partnership, a registered charity founded by a group of friends in Leeds and run entirely by volunteers who share a passion for making it easier to learn about and support charities that provide invaluable services and advice. They set up Givto during the height of the pandemic, so they haven’t all met in person.
Alex Ellis-White, Founder and Chief Executive said: “I have always been passionate about supporting local causes and I set up Givto when I realised there wasn’t a service out there that gave you the flexibility and choice to support a different cause each month. I was very lucky to be joined by a small team of like-minded and hugely talented volunteers to help me get the service up and running who come from a range of backgrounds, from working in the NHS to big finance, and have generously donated their time and skills.
Givto is run by charity for charity. We don’t make a profit from the service – we are here to bring people and causes together. I am delighted to roll the service out more widely and encourage people and charities across the country to sign up and join the Givto community.”
Aireborough Voluntary Services for the Elderly (AVSED) was one of the first charities to sign up to the Givto pilot. Based in Leeds, they provide support and activities to help prevent the social isolation of people over 60 and help them live happy, healthy and independent lives. They found the support they received through Givto invaluable given the impact the pandemic had on fundraising.
Project Coordinating Manager Debbie Fawthrop said: “We were really impressed with the Givto service. Signing up was quick and easy and it didn’t cost us a penny. And we were delighted with the amount of money that was raised for AVSED. Givto provides a really fresh new way to find out about and support small charities like ours who can’t spend lots of money on marketing and can find it difficult to get people’s attention. We would definitely recommend it to people and to other charities.”
The way that people choose the charity they are going to support each month on Givto varies. Some people choose on their own and then compare notes with friends, others make it a joint decision, sitting down with partners or the entire family to look through the options and decide which charity they want to support this month.
Givto user, Alice Ford, said: “I’ve had such a positive experience using Givto. It’s really easy to set up an account in the first place, then you get a prompt every month to choose your charity and all the information you need is right there for you. I also really love that it introduces me to new charities and causes that I would never have known about otherwise, and as a result. wouldn’t have supported. I have recommended it to all my friends because it just makes giving easy.”
The Better Giving Partnership provided the following information:
It’s simple to set up an account and choose how much to donate each month on the Givto website at www.givto.org. The Better Giving Partnership claims Gift Aid on the donations, if eligible, and then pass the donation and Gift Aid on to the chosen charity. They take a small fee to cover costs, but they don’t make a profit and are committed to keeping the fee as low as possible.
Personal information is not released or passed onto any charities or third parties by Givto so users can feel reassured that their data is secure and they won’t receive unwanted calls, emails, or post.
Each month users get an email telling them to log in to the Givto website to choose a worthy cause for the month. The site provides all the information people need to know about the three charities to help them decide who to support. Once they’ve made their decision, users see a short thank you message from the charity they’ve chosen.
If they forget or run out of time to choose then the money doesn’t go to waste. Givto chooses one of the three charities at random and notifies the user, so they can be as involved as they want to in the process.
It’s just as easy for charities to register their organisation free of charge on the website. Currently, only registered UK charities who operate in the Leeds area, across Yorkshire or nationally are featured on Givto, but the team is encouraging registered charities outside Leeds to email [email protected] to register their interest for when the service expands further.
Photograph features members of the Givto volunteer team (L-R): Kathryn Griffiths, Nick Gregory, Alex Ellis-White, Penny Coulthard and Scott McKinney.
