Member Article

The Good Exchange disburses total of £15.1m as it enters fifth year of operation

*Fundraising platform sees donations more than double in last 12 months and celebrates fourth anniversary supporting 600 live good causes *

The Good Exchange, the not-for-profit fundraising platform (wholly-owned by charity Greenham Trust), has revealed significant growth in donations despite uncertain economic conditions as it celebrates its fourth anniversary this month. In its fourth year of operation, public donations made through the platform were more than double the number of donations from the previous year, amounting to £1.1 million – a 51% increase from £730,193 in 2018-19. In addition, over £3.1m in grants (a 52% increase from the previous year) were disbursed through the platform.

The Good Exchange, which disburses grants across West Berkshire and north Hampshire from its owner Greenham Trust, as well as grants from other funders, and donations from the general public and businesses, now hosts 600 live projects fundraising for a variety of good causes. Through the COVID-19 pandemic, these have included; an emergency Coronavirus funding project to support those in need in the West Berkshire and north Hampshire area; a partnership with Berkshire Youth to launch a youth support hub to assist young people, families and agencies through the lockdown; and a fundraising initiative with The Theatrical Guild supported by £40,000 of match funding from Sir Ian McKellen to help theatre workers who have lost their jobs due to the lockdown with bills, services and other basic essentials.

With the Coronavirus pandemic hitting the charity sector especially hard, innovative approaches to charitable funding and donations are needed now more than ever. The Good Exchange and Greenham Trust have spearheaded an approach that incentivises both charities and their supporters to raise significant amounts of money in a short space of time with their ‘Double Matched Day’, which demonstrates the power of match funding to boost charitable donations. In July 2020, ten local charitable causes - ranging from supporting mothers through postnatal care, to providing cuddle beds for terminally ill cancer patients, to helping children through bereavement - were selected to raise up to £50,000 over a 24 hour period. These funds were double matched up to a total of £100,000 by Greenham Trust. Its success has led to demands for another – which will be held on December 11th.

“In times of crisis, more people rely on charitable organisations for support, whereas charities tend suffer from lower rates of giving, increased competition for the funds that are available whilst also having to cut staff costs and facing drastically reduced opportunities to run and participate in fundraising activities,” said Chris Boulton, CEO of The Good Exchange. “As a charity we have chosen to fund The Good Exchange to enable both Greenham Trust and other local funders to more quickly identify the most worthwhile projects, and get much-needed grant monies to them as fast as possible. At the same time we appreciate the need for charities across the UK to raise money which is why any charitable organisation can use The Good Exchange for crowdfunding purposes and more easily raise the funds they need to help the vulnerable groups they serve.”

During the last year, The Good Exchange has also made updates to the platform to enhance functionality and maximise the benefits to good causes. The platform now provides funding applicants with advanced reporting tools to help track all transactions, and also gives donors the ability to pay the service fee on behalf of the charities, directly cutting the amount they pay to use the platform.

“Despite this year’s increasingly difficult financial stresses, we have seen a dramatic increase in the volume of donations going through the platform, and we are committed to ensuring that through the Good Exchange, more of the money donated through us goes directly to the charities who need it,” concludes Boulton.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by The Good Exchange .