Sweet Charity: JustGiving
JustGiving has changed the way we donate to good causes. But should moneymaking be on the agenda? CEO Zarine Kharas believes so
Featured August 10 Words by James Ashton
The 36,000 runners who pounded the course at this year's London Marathon have long since recovered from their blisters and aching limbs. But for Zarine Kharas, the work is far from over. She's the chief executive of JustGiving.com, the website that has revolutionised fundraising in a few short years. The marathon is Zarine's biggest collecting event, and the running total is £20m (€24m) and counting.
Since the website went live nine years ago, it has raised £670m for good causes, with the vast majority of that in Britain. JustGiving has made it easier for millions of people to give to charity - and for charities to receive those donations - by digitising the sponsorship form. What also helps the business is that charitable giving doesn't behave the same way as the general economy. "People always think there is somebody who is worse off than they are," Zarine says.
The model is simple. By putting fundraising online, people can reach all of their friends and family to ask for money in an instant. Supporters can contribute to a charity swim, Arctic trek or even an egg and spoon race with the click of a mouse. Because much of the money arrives by card payment on a secure website, it makes collection easier too.
For Zarine, JustGiving's success means she has no regrets about quitting her job as a successful investment banker. She worked at two of the largest City law firms, Linklaters and Simmons & Simmons, and investment bank Credit Suisse First Boston before deciding to strike out on her own. "I was thinking: there has got to be something more to life than this," she says.
In 2000, the 59 year old left banking with a germ of an idea, just as the dotcom bubble was about to burst and thousands of entrepreneurs were struggling to master the internet. Few got it right first time, and Zarine admits JustGiving was no different. "There was no eureka moment," she says. "At the time of the internet boom, I thought: what are the things charities need most? One was the ability to communicate and spread their message and the other was to fundraise."
The company began life as a portal with the ambition of signing up every charity as a member. Zarine saw a gap in the market - there was no single place for people to go if they wanted to compare charities to give money to. The catch was that JustGiving's success balanced purely on the fact that the charities had to let them act as a middleman. Zarine admits that took plenty of persuasion. "But that's not a negative comment. Charities are in the business of furthering their own mission, they are not in the business of technology. So it was hardly surprising."
The biggest to come onboard in the early days were Macmillan and Marie Curie, as well as Médecins Sans Frontières, where Zarine found her business partner, Anne-Marie Huby, the boss of MSF's UK arm. The two met when Zarine pitched JustGiving to the charity.
"If you ring up the chief executive of a charity, the chance of getting a meeting with them is pretty slight," says Zarine. The pair hit it off instantly and Anne-Marie, 43, a former radio journalist from Belgium, immediately saw the potential of JustGiving. She has taken over the day-today running of the company, enabling Zarine to concentrate on growth and expansion.
JustGiving's selling point to charities is Gift Aid. Before the website started, it took a long paper trail for charities to claim this tax back and donors didn't realise that 28% from every donation was taken by the taxman. JustGiving made it easy, with a click of a box.
The website takes 5% of any donation for itself. Last year, that added up to a £2.2m profit after tax. By and large, charities don't begrudge it for taking the hassle out of collecting so much cash on their behalf. But should moneymaking mix with the charity world? Zarine thinks it is essential.
She can't precisely put a figure on it, but JustGiving has spent between £5-7m on getting right the technology behind its website. It took five years just to break even. Zarine knew that spending this amount of money was crucial to future proof the company. It's paid off - many copycat websites and companies have already gone under, but JustGiving is becoming an essential fundraising forum for charities across the globe - with 8,500 signed up in the UK and 5,500 in America.
So what does the future hold? JustGiving, which employs 70 staff, has already launched in the United States. Breaking into the rest of Europe is the target for Zarine this year, and the numbers she throws around are huge. Individuals give £9.5bn every year in Britain, and so far, only £190m of that comes JustGiving's way. Its biggest event for a single charity is Race for Life for Cancer Research UK, and that is before corporate donations are added in (although JustGiving doesn't operate in that part of the market - yet).
Instead of pitching her idea to charities and fundraisers, Zarine hopes they are becoming well enough known for them to come to her now. "Today it is about enabling charities to find fundraisers and for donors to find causes they care about. It is expanding your network, not just accessing your network." Ultimately, her aim is to expand the world of giving, and that means making JustGiving present wherever people want to donate money. The website is already on mobile phones and has an iPhone application. It is even embedded in Facebook and in online games.
For this entrepreneur, getting rich is not her main aim. Zarine says it is impossible not to be enthused by being so involved with charities that help so many people. "It does make you feel good - there is no question."
Print page
Email page
Del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Google
Reddit
Technorati
Twitter
Yahoo!