At last! JustGiving ditches its 5% fee

Charity website had made £190m from donations

JUSTGIVING will no longer charge controversial fees on donations following a Daily Mail investigation and outrage from politicians.

The crowdfunding website had levied a 5 per cent ‘platform fee’ on contributions – even for appeals to help the families of Westminster terror attack hero PC Keith Palmer and the Manchester bomb victims.

But from today donors will instead be asked if they want to make a voluntary contribution to support the operation of the website.

The policy comes in after the Mail revealed JustGiving was taking more than £20 million a year from fundraisers.

The website has enabled more than £3.8 billion to be raised for charities since its launch in 2001. But its 5 per cent charge equates to £190 million being kept back over that time.

In October last year the site removed platform fees for all terrorist and major disasters, as well as campaigns where members of the public seek to raise funds for personal, non-charity causes.

The latest changes – which cover all fundraising campaigns – followed an extensive consultation with JustGiving users and charities, the website said. But JustGiving said payments will still be subject to standard card processing fees of 1.9 per cent plus 20p, ‘in line with other major online giving platforms’.

Keith Williams, JustGiving’s UK general manager, said: ‘We believe that people who donate through JustGiving will be happy that more money will be going to their chosen charity.’

Two years ago, the site was attacked after taking at least £32,000 in fees of the £638,000 raised for PC Palmer’s widow Michelle, and their young daughter, Amy, within two days of his murder.

The unarmed officer, 48, was stabbed to death by fanatic Khalid Masood when he stood in the ter- rorist’s way as he tried to enter Parliament, having already killed four on Westminster Bridge on March 22, 2017. Masood was shot dead by police moments later.

JustGiving refused to waive its fee, saying it had ploughed £10,000 back in its own donation to PC Palmer’s fund.

Liberal Democrat peer Lord Paddick, who was a Metropolitan Police officer for 21 years, said at the time: ‘Bearing in mind the bravery of the officer – an unarmed man tackling a violent knifeman leaving a distraught family behind – surely JustGiving can in these exceptional circumstances waive their fee?’

Speaking last night, Lord Paddick said of the new policy: ‘If it means more money for charities and less money for people who are looking to make a profit from people’s generosity, it’s got to be a step in the right direction.’

Elsewhere, JustGiving took its controversial fee from £5.5 million raised for Manchester Arena bombing victims’ families and survivors, £4 million donated in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster, and £334,908 for those affected by the London Bridge attack.

Labour MP Neil Coyle last year called for the law to be changed to prevent firms such as JustGiving ‘profiting from terrorism’.

Mr Coyle, who represents Southwark in London, said: ‘JustGiving helps raise millions for good causes. That work is respected and supported across the country.

‘But most people are unaware JustGiving charges charities, takes admin fees and also profits from the funds the public donate. This means they profit from terrorism and tragedies.’

In 2017, the Mail Investigations Unit revealed how JustGiving made more than £20 million a year from crowdfunding campaigns.

While some of the cash was used to keep the site working and find new ways of raising money, more than £10 million was spent on staff in 2016, who earn an average of more than £60,000, while their boss earned £198,000.

The news led to fierce criticism, with JustGiving accused of ‘greed’ and dubbed ‘JustTaking’.

JustGiving was launched in 2001 by former lawyer Zarine Kharas and charity director Anne-Marie Huby.

Accounts showed the highestpaid director earned a salary of £152,000 in 2015 and pension contributions of £46,600.

JustGiving’s platform fee was far higher than those of competitors, such as Virgin Money Giving, which levies 2 per cent, and BT’s MyDonate website, which charges fees only to cover the cost of card transactions.

JustGiving is now owned by US software company Blackbaud, which bought the website from its founders for £95 million in October 2017.