Making donations online

[wickham]

I realise now how out of touch I am with the modern online financial world.

I decided that I would like to make a donation to a Grenfell Tower fund so I googled that and up came a list of charities, none of which I recognised. the usual ones like Oxfam, Save the Children, etc. weren't there. I chose the one at the top of the list and clicked "Donation", made my choice of amount and expected the next screen to be a form for my credit card, but it only gave two other options.

One option was Facebook. I don't have a Facebook account, but would like to know how it processes money. Is it a bank? Does it contain the bank account or credit card details of its members? How does Facebook pass on money to a charity?

The second option was Email. That seems very inefficient if I have to email the fund saying that I wish to make a donation and the fund emails me a form. Or perhaps I am supposed to put my credit card numbers and the security code in an unencrypted email, which I definitely wouldn't.

So I gave up.

[RedSnapper]

Sounds like you found your way to a 'justgiving' page, or similar. The step you got stuck at is where they want to know who you are. If you have a Facebook account you can click that button and give them permission to gather basic identification details from that account. If you don't have a facebook account then you can enter your email address as the first stage of telling them who you are. Further details would then be taken.

The stage at which you give money is later and would be via a card in the usual way.

[swill453]

I would guess it wasn't actually going to take money by those methods, but was using them as a means of identifying you. There's some way of letting Facebook validate you to 3rd party sites, or alternatively you could have done it by supplying an email address and they would send you a link to click on for validation.

I'd imagine the actual payment options would be presented on later screens.

Scott.

[wickham]

Thanks. It occurs to me that as all the charities were unknown to me, what is the best way to ensure that they are reputable? It seems to be a classic opportunity for bogus charities to take money.

I know there is a register of charities, but some could still be best avoided, so what's the best way to choose?

[abisgran]

You would be safe donating to the Evening Standard Grenfell tower fund I think particularly through the just giving site.

[Clitheroekid]

You would be safe donating to the Evening Standard Grenfell tower fund I think particularly through the just giving site.

And here's the link - just click on `Donate' - https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/ch ... y/grenfell

[wickham]

<rant mode>
Why is it so difficult to give money anonymously online? I just want to give money without getting junk mail and letters in the future and I want to avoid some or all of my name, address, email and credit card details getting sent to "associate companies" or hacked.

Just Giving had a check box for Hide my donation which I checked, but on the next pages asked for my email address (giving my name) and password (why do I need to set up an account just for one donation), my name, address and post code.

When my mother died I gave Save the Children some money as executor and ever since I have had junk mail and lots of begging letters. It's extremely hard to get taken off lists even though there is sometimes a link to click.

All that is reasonably required is my VISA details, which should be hidden from the company I am giving to.

</rant mode>

[brightncheerful]

<rant mode>

Why is it so difficult to give money anonymously online?

I wonder if concern about anonymity is what the giver would do with the procedure for giving: for example, scam, hack or phishing or whatever the correct terminology. By requiring the giver's identity at least in the event of any fraudulent activity each giver (even if the giver hasn't given their real name) could be traced, rather than meet resistance from the credit card company over privacy issues.

As for facebook - my spellcheck keeps wanting me to use a capital F - it's their way to try to muscle in wherever possible: partly to check whether you're on facebook and in which case why aren't you donating via facebook rather than wanting/daring to exclude it; and otherwise in attempt to mop up anyone that's not on facebook so that its advertisers can target them. Lest it be forgotten, facebook is first and foremost a source of customers for advertisers: attracting people with the lure of free usage is how it has managed to create a vast depository of customers.

[quelquod]

Why is it so difficult to give money anonymously online? I just want to give money without getting junk mail and letters in the future and I want to avoid some or all of my name, address, email and credit card details getting sent to "associate companies" or hacked

I'm sure this puts off lots of people. We still get at least a couple of communications a week from an occasion years ago when I inadvertently filled in a donation form in a magazine. (It was to a cancer charity, but it's no longer them who mail shot us).

We generally give cash and odd cast-offs to the Heart Foundation. They'd benefit much more if we registered for Gift Aid to reclaim tax but fear of our details being passed around prevents me.

[midnightcatprowl]

On the question of knowing which charities are 'reputable' you may want to consider donating to the special Red Cross fund which has now been set up

http://www.redcross.org.uk/en/About-us/ ... elief-Fund

N.B. Personally I'd avoid donating to small organisations unless I already knew quite a lot about them. Full of goodwill people will be setting things up without really realising the enormity of the task they are taking on or the difficulty of knowing how to use the money correctly and fairly whereas organisations such as the Red Cross have a lot of experience and the capacity to take on what is going to be a very long term job.

[UncleEbenezer]

<rant mode>
Why is it so difficult to give money anonymously online?
</rant mode>

There's an organisation called the Charities Aid Foundation ( https://www.cafonline.org/ ) which some find very helpful with giving at arms length. I expect it might also help with filtering out some of the bogus charities that inevitably appear in the wake of a newsworthy incident. Be sure to google extensively and look for independent evidence of a real track record before giving to an unknown charity.

Ironic that the first victim to be identified was a refugee from a part of the world devastated by western action. A fire in a tower block is a drop in the ocean compared to that.

[Ma1co1m]

Bear in mind also that justgiving and similar sites take a significant commission. Last time I looked it was 10% !

ma1co1m

[quelquod]

As does the Charities Aid Foundation though at a lower level.
Shows how big business the charities game is when it can support not only quite highly-paid staff but even a tier of 'support' services.