SmarterPay offers flexible, discounted fees to help charities save

SmarterPay offers flexible, discounted fees to help charities save

CHARITY sector figures coupled with findings from the financial industry have once again shone a spotlight on the dominance of Direct Debit as the preferred method of making charitable donations among the British public.

According to Pay.UK, the financial body which owns Bacs Direct Debit, UK donors were responsible for 113,034,000 Direct Debit payments to charities in 2023.

This means that Direct Debit far outstrips any other method of regularly donating to charity regardless of the demographic profile of the donors. This is primarily because Direct Debits are convenient, trusted, easy to create and completely secure.

Despite the ease with which donors can contribute to their chosen charity and the powerful inclination among British people to support local, national, and international good causes, charities are facing huge cost pressures and like so many other industries are struggling to square the financial circle.

This dilemma has not gone unnoticed by Kingston-Upon-Hull payment processing specialists SmarterPay which works with companies in both the private and third sectors to facilitate donations regardless of the preferred payment method: Direct Debit, card payments etc.

As costs across the board rise and exacerbate the demand for charities’ services, the same cost pressures are making those services more expensive to deliver. This is compounded by the fact that many donors feel they can no longer support their chosen charity in the way they once did.

Three hammer blows to organisations many of which, ironically, are on the front line of trying to alleviate the impact and worst excesses of rising costs at a time of increasing demand.

This is where SmarterPay has a major role to play. Because they hold all the necessary accreditations and compliance requirements, they can process payments like Direct Debit and card payments. In this way, SmarterPay acts as a vital connection between the donor and their preferred charity.

Some 86 per cent of charities say they are worried about the impact rising living costs are having on the people they support.

In response, the company has stepped in to come to the aid of third-sector organisations by offering a permanent 50 per cent reduction in its usual processing fees.

For an average charity, this discount could save them around £18,000 a year and provide an invaluable boost to a charity’s ability to fulfil its obligations.

In addition, being family-owned gives SmarterPay the ability to react quickly and amend its processes and tailor its offering to meet the individual needs of a particular charity. The decision-making chain has as few links in it as possible.

A good example of this built-in flexibility is the work SmarterPay undertook with an international Islamic charity.

During the holy month of Ramadan, it is a tradition among Muslims that they are especially generous and give a proportion of their wealth to good causes.

This leading Islamic charity and global humanitarian and development organisation, delivering sustainable development to some of the world’s poorest nations, worked with SmarterPay to maximise the number of donations they attracted over a strictly limited collection period: just 30 days.

SmarterPay were able to amend and adjust its processes to help the charity take full advantage of this once-a-year opportunity and allow donors to make daily donations by optimising the opportunities that Direct Debit and card payments present.

As typical daily donations amounted to between £20,000 and £30,000, it was essential that SmarterPay created a robust and reliable solution. The combined payment options helped the charity generate a huge £500,000 over the holy month.

With a permanent deep discount to its normal fee structure, coupled with the flexibility to accommodate unique sets of circumstances, SmarterPay believes this approach will help alleviate the complex set of cost pressures that charities and not-for-profit organisations face on an ongoing basis.

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