A Newcastle firm that allows people to donate money to charity using text messages is fast approaching its crowdfunding goal to raise £280,000.
The firm was launched in 2016 with the aim of disrupting the the way people give money to charity by offering them an alternative to signing up to a regular direct debit.
It believes people are more inclined to give money to charities using a text messaging service, as opposed to filling out direct debit forms on their mobile phone.
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So far, Donr has already signed up 1,450 charities to its platform, including several North East organisations such as Newcastle United Foundation, Sage Gateshead, St Oswald’s, the Tyneside Cinema, CHUF and Newcastle Dog and Cat Shelter.
Earlier this year the firm gained £300,000 in equity investment from the North East Innovation Fund, which is supported by the European Regional Development Fund, managed by Northstar Ventures.
Now it plans to raise a further £280,000 through Crowdcube, which it plans to use to add more powerful fundraising tools to its platform, helping charities to grow stronger relationships with their donors.
It also plans to expand its 12-strong team and to continue to grow its rapidly rising community of charities.
The firm, which reached number 33 in BusinessCloud’s 100 FinTech Disrupters of 2019, has so far raised £255,360 from 119 investors with 13 days left. The £280,000 equates to 6.95% of equity, giving the firm pre-money valuation of £3.75m.
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Donr is set to reach £1m in donations by April 2020 and aims to become the most-used digital fundraising tool for 海角视频 charities.
Paul Paterson, COO and co-founder said: “We believe our opportunity is more than a simple business prospect; it’s an opportunity to disrupt and democratise the tech-for-good space by levelling the playing field for charities and helping them to maximise their impact on society.
“Many charities are at serious risk as they struggle to access the same digital solutions as the commercial sector, and the transition to a cashless society compounds this even more.
“Donr is helping to change this by providing charities with accessto new digital mobile fundraising tools. In our first year we’ve signed up more than 1,400 charities, helping them to raise more than £500,000 for important causes and saved them more than £1.5m in the process.”