New giving platform aims for security, building trust among younger donors

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nba.30835
• Date: 01 September 2020
• Published date: 01 September 2020

SEPTEMBER 2020 NONPROFIT BUSINESS ADVISOR

5

© 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC • All rights reserved

DOI: 10.1002/nba

Industry News

New giving platform aims for security, building

trust among younger donors

As the coronavirus pandemic brings the national

economy to a crawl, donations to American charities

have slowed as well. Fundraising in an environment

that largely precludes social engagement is difcult

for many nonprots to manage, and makes online en-

gagement of donors even more important. However,

with data showing younger donors are skeptical of

the safety of their personal information when making

online donations, charities are even more hamstrung.

Enter the Givesafely.io donation platform launched

recently by the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving

Alliance. The platform aims to instill trust in the

minds of millennial and Generation Z donors that

their personal information will be safeguarded, by

using a technology that younger generations are more

savvy about: blockchain.

According to data cited by the WGA, 25% of af-

uent millennials hold or use cryptocurrencies like

Bitcoin, and 31% are interested in using it. About

three quarters say technological innovations like

blockchain make the global nancial system more

secure. Tapping into this, Givesafely.io specically

targets these younger donors, with the hopes of ad-

dressing one of the biggest challenges to persuading

them to donate—a lack of trust.

“These donors look for a charity that they high-

ly trust,” said Ezra Vázquez-D’Amico, manager

of Givesafely.io. With data breaches and hacks of

personal information occurring regularly, exposing

people all across the country to risks like identity

theft, ransomware attacks and worse, millennial and

Gen Z donors are understandably hesitant about

how their personal information is handled by online

vendors, businesses, social media platforms and even

the charities they donate to.

“Younger people have more knowledge about the

value of their personal information,” Vázquez-D’Am-

ico said. Getting them to trust that your nonprot

will safeguard it is essential to earning their support

and building their engagement.

With blockchain as the basic infrastructure for

Givesafely.io, the risk of a data breach or other form

of misuse of personal information is drastically re-

duced, Vázquez-D’Amico said. That’s because of the

encryption and decentralized design of blockchain.

Instead of having all of the donor’s information,

such as name, age, address, email, education level,

charitable giving behaviors and other info helpful to

fundraising and development ofcers in one central

database, blockchain disperses it in encrypted format

among hundreds—if not thousands—of computer

servers. As Vázquez-D’Amico explains it, each of

those servers would have to be hacked at the same

time to gain access to the data, and even then, the

hackers would have to get past the encryption.

But that’s just one aspect of the Givesafely.io

platform that aims to build trust, Vázquez-D’Am-

ico said. The whole thing is based on the idea that

donors voluntarily give their personal information

to the organizations they wish to support; and to

acknowledge the value of what they give, the system

awards Giving Points that can be redeemed for gifts

and personalized, online experiences that combine

a human element with a connection to the charity’s

mission. These 15–20-minute experiences might in-

clude offers like healthy cooking tips, a discussion of

what it’s like to work at the selected charity or other

conversations that connect them to the charity’s mis-

sion, the WGA said.

According to Vázquez-D’Amico, the minimum do-

nation on the platform is $5 and requires the donor’s

name and email address. Anything additional—like

age, gender, level of education, annual giving budget

or how often they donate—garners additional points.

As donors feel comfortable giving more of their

personal information, they are rewarded in ways that

deepen their level of engagement with the groups

they want to support: a win–win for them and their

selected charities.

As for the experiences themselves, Vázquez-D’Am-

ico said individual charities are brainstorming with

the WGA to come up with ideas that are fun and

engaging and present a special experience—it may

not be a one-on-one setting, but preferably no more

than a ve-on-one—to keep it personal and intimate,

which also lends itself to building trust between the

donor and the organization.

(See PLATFORM on page 8)