The barrier to micro-donations at the moment is the banks, who have to figure out a commerically viable way to process donations in batches without spoiling the spontaneity of, “Oh, give £1 for a brick, that’s a great idea.” As I say, as soon as they solve that, we’ll be all over it, but it does seem likely it will be on social media platforms like Facebook first.

We stopped doing three months free at the beginning of the year pending a review of our subscriptions, but if you’re interested, drop me a line – you can see my e-mail address, right? – and we might be able to sort something out.

The micro-donation question is up to the banks and people like PayPal because they have to process

However, to Give A Brick via CC you have to include lots of details which most of our donors prefer not to do. If you’re only giving a brick, you want it to be quick and simple right? That’s why we added Paypal. Whilst we pay fees with Paypal, 70p from the pound is better than zero.

You ask about Paypal and gift aid and that’s one area where both BMyCharity and Virgin Money Giving fall down. Paypal is not an option with either and as a result, no, we don’t get Gift Aid on Paypal donations.

How does JG handle Paypal and Gift Aid? Given the nature of our site, if we could get Gift Aid on Paypal, this would be a massive incentive to consider JG since the majority of our bricks are given via Paypal. We’d still have the stumbling block of asking folks to give ‘a’ brick but that could probably work itself out in the wash. Would it be impossible to lower the minimum donation amount?

I’ve just remembered something else I thought I read which would be worth checking Do you still offer charities a free trial for three months? Maybe I just imagined that or it doesn’t apply now with your fast track system but I thought it was worth checking.

As for RB, I’m really keen for him to at least have the opportunity to say no. Will have to keep asking I guess

Thanks for the continued dialogue and for giving a brick.
.-= Eleanor´s last blog ..Virgin to the rescue? It’s possible but we’ll need your help =-.

Yes, absolutely I’ll donate two bricks right now. I see you’re using Charity Choice and Paypal. Do you get Gift Aid on your PayPal donations? And how do they compare to BMyCharity?

No, I don’t think any of us have ever spoken to Richard Branson. Understandably, he’s a got a lot of balls – and planes! – to keep in the air.

Aside from the higher commission, the biggest stumbling block for us is the monthly fee. I understand you offer a great service but whilst I personally celebrate over every single pound that is donated, I’m not prepared for us to give 15 away each month while other options exist.

As for the minor stumbling block of your minimum donation amount, yes, that does completely contradict our USP but I agree, it’s not a deal breaker. And was that you personally offering to donate two bricks or just a figure of speech?

Thank you again for visiting. I’ll keep what you’ve told me in mind but in the meantime, if your boss knows Sir Richard Branson’s personal email or mobile number, would you ask him to send Sir R to our update on this whole saga and see if he might be able to help: http://www.giveabrick.com/bmycharity-alternative/

Many thanks and best wishes,
Eleanor
.-= Eleanor´s last blog ..Virgin to the rescue? It’s possible but we’ll need your help =-.

Alex at JustGiving here.

I hope you’ll believe me when I say we were all really sad to hear about BMyCharity withdrawing their services. We’re all in this industry to try and raise more money for charity (and nothing else) and they were the only one of our competitors that offered a truly different and challenging business model (advertising-based vs commission-based). I know my boss was in touch with Ben last week and as a result we’re offering a fast track service for any BMyCharity charities that want to sign up to JustGiving to try and minimise losses. Remember, there’s no initial sign up cost with JustGiving (by the way, the monthly subscription is £15, not £20 as you’ve said above and we charge 5% plus credit card fees, etc., not 7%). Maybe that would be a good short term solution for Give A Brick?

You haven’t really talked about Gift Aid in your post, but that’s another key difference between BMyCharity and JustGiving. Whereas BMyCharity only collected UK taxpayer details to pass on to you, JustGiving does all the reclaiming for you and, because of our trusted relationship with HMRC, up to three times faster than anyone else in the country, thus saving you time and money.

I appreciate that our minimum donation amount of £2 messes up one brick for £1, but still, I thought it would be worth commenting here. We are looking into the possibility of micro-donations (although it would probably have to be on a separate platform such as Facebook or Twitter), but in the mean time I would personally be very happy to donate £2 for two bricks, especially if I knew it meant an extra 50p or so went to Give A Brick in Gift Aid. After all, sometimes you need half bricks too.

If any of the above makes you want to reconsider JustGiving please give the Charities Help Desk a call on 0845 02 12 133 or e-mail ‘join@justgiving.com’.

Like on BMyCharity, all their comments are moderated so they may choose not to publish my comment. However, they’ll still have to read it

If anyone else felt compelled to read their response to the situation and leave a message suggesting or supporting this suggestion, the link is in the first paragraph

Thanks