THE DETAILS
How will WowGive help?
WowGive provides a new, supplementary and more personal channel for you to connect with people who are interested in donating to good causes and charities, by using a mobile app installed on their smartphone. It doesn't aim to replace your existing marketing and communication channels, but can be used alongside them - a new way to promote your cause nationally - even internationally, and a new revenue stream.
Receive donations from people's phones - commission free
Millions of people use smartphones as a way of life and prefer mobile apps rather than surfing the web the traditional way. WowGive provides a unique way to interact with people, and unlike most other services, WowGive doesn't take a cut of your donations. Using WowGive rather than other channels may mean you get more revenue.
Will there be big costs to us as an organisation, either financially or in staff or management?
No. The costs are minimal, and we envisage it will require maybe an hour or so's interaction from you each month - or as much as you like. The only costs are credit card processing fees, currently 1.4% + 20p for UK and European registered cards. Non-European cards are charged at 2.9% + 20p.
What do we have to commit to? Any minimum period? Any legal commitments?
There is no financial or legal commitment required from you, and you are free to disengage with WowGive at any time. We do ask that you make an effort to engage with the WowGive community via the app and/or tools we provide in order to maximise your potential donations, rather like you may already be doing on social media channels such as Twitter or Facebook. As you would expect, all use of our mobile app, our system and network is subject to our terms and conditions operational at the time.
One-off and regular monthly donations
WowGive will allow people to send one-off and monthly donations direct to you.
How secure are the donations?
WowGive uses a large PCI compliant payment processor to process all donations, and all monies will be passed directly to the beneficiaries, on a monthly basis. WowGive does not hold the monies at any time.
How do we know that all donations will get passed on to us?
WowGive is totally transparent in every aspect, although the privacy of all parties are fully respected. The beneficiaries (charities) will get a single monthly sum totaling the combined donations made during the preceding period, and an itemised list will also be made available detailing each individual donation. Even anonymous donations will be listed individually, but with no personal identifier.
Easily communicate with your donors and WowGive members
You'll be able to post short updates within the app, using the app, or a blog-like tool. These updates will go directly to any subscribed members, depending on their privacy settings.
Focussing on Good Causes
WowGive's members are specifically interested in good causes, and giving, or helping. If they are using the WowGive app, then they may be interested in supporting your cause. Unlike conventional social media platforms, WowGive doesn't bombard its members with adverts, funny videos and irrelevant posts; and our primary purpose is to help givers and good causes connect - not find old friends, discuss news, fashion, celebs or gossip. We believe those aspects are already very well covered.
Interact directly with members
Maintaining a relationship with donors is becoming more and more essential. WowGive allows good causes to update donors instantly with important information, such as upcomming events, or updates on the work they are doing. This information can be posted in the app and all supporters are notified personally, subject to their privacy settings.
Accept anonymous donations
Some people are interested in giving to good causes, but are wary of giving out their phone number in case they get further marketing calls. Recent media articles have also pointed out the proportion of donations raised that go to the marketing organisations rather than the good causes. These aspects make a growing number of the public uneasy about signing up with street or D2D fundraisers. WowGive enables these people to give without fear of further pestering, and in the knowledge that all the money they donate will go directly to the good cause, and not to a third party marketing company.
What about Gift Aid?
WowGive is looking into collecting gift aid on your behalf - coming soon.
How are we funded if we don't charge a commission?
WowGive is currently self-funded. The long-term plan is for WowGive to remain free to use, with optional paid-for services as extras.
When does WowGive launch?
We are working hard on building the mobile app for iPhones and Android phones, along with the technical infrastructure required to maintain the operation. We hope to launch the app in beta status in May/June 2016. - Latest: WowGive launched in June!
Why is WowGive doing this, and who's behind it?
WowGive was conceived sometime in 2015, after realising that there must be a better way for people to connect with good causes, rather than being stopped in the street, cold-called at home, or generally being approached at inconvenient times by canvassers. The founder is Zach Townsend, who's spent most of his career helping companies find technical solutions to business, marketing or operation problems. You can connect with him directly on LinkedIn. The initial legal entity will run by IT Tradelink Limited, a software consultancy registered in the UK. It is envisaged that after the beta period WowGive will be organised as a totally separate entity, possibly a charity or not-for-profit company.
I still have questions
Great - we welcome your questions and suggestions. Please feel free to contact us by clicking on the email icon below. There is also more information on our FAQ's page, and the home screen.
