We are delighted that CharityExtra are our Headline Sponsors for Fundraising Convention 2023. As we get closer to July 3-4, when the UK’s biggest gathering of fundraisers meet in central London and online, we have sat down with CharityExtra founder Yitzi Bude.
Read on to learn more about Yitzi’s journey into fundraising and what inspired him to launch this innovative service-based community fundraising platform.
For as long as I can remember, building community through charity has been a part of my life. I grew up inspired by my late father – Mendy Bude – who dedicated his life to supporting many great causes. As a lawyer this wasn’t just about being generous with money but also his time, working pro-bono basis for charities and sitting on many boards as a trustee.
I remember listening to meetings he held with these organisations regularly in our home and so from a very young age, I gained an appreciation of the key role that charities play in our community. In many ways, they are the backbone of our society – and my experiences instilled in me the importance of supporting them in whatever way I can – even if they don’t touch your life directly.
I had been volunteering for charities for a number of years – and in many cases, helping them fundraise. Over time, I grew frustrated with the various online fundraising platforms. I found that they had a one-size-fits-all approach and offered only a very basic service.
Most importantly, all the platforms that I came across were geared towards the fundraisers themselves and not towards the charity. In some cases, the charity was not even aware that someone had decided to raise funds on their behalf!
There was also no way of tracking how many people were fundraising for a given charity or what kind of progress they had made in doing so. To my knowledge, there was no platform that would work directly with the charity itself and bring all the fundraisers together under one umbrella. They also seemed to ignore the user experience of giving - both from a charity and donor perspective…from this, CharityExtra was born!
We are a serviced-based platform, working directly with the charities themselves but with the donor experience very much front of mind, in order to maximise the fundraising potential. As part of this bespoke service, we provide every campaign with its own tech manager and fundraising coach, who work collaboratively to make sure that every campaign is a success.
We place a huge emphasis on smart technology and we incorporate features which draw on the psychology of giving, which is so important.
The platform is designed to be super user-friendly. Donors benefit from an easy-to-use interface and fast processing times. (Typically, from first click to last, a donation will take less than a minute!) The fundraisers on the other hand enjoy the friendly but competitive edge that comes from pitting themselves against other teams (in many cases being captained by their peers!).
Of course, this is enhanced by the thrill that comes with achieving their personal fundraising goals or those of the wider charity they are raising for. CharityExtra essentially joins forces with both the charities and their supporters to form exactly what was lacking previously – a fully customisable, one-stop-shop for effective fundraising solutions; and I’m proud to say that the results speak for themselves!
There are many, but two campaigns come to mind…
‘Food Bank Aid’ is a relatively new (and incredible!) organisation that distributes 40,000 items of fresh produce and pantry staples to the needy each week. They reach around 10,000 people, including over 3,500 children. That backdrop is why this particular campaign was so special.
Despite never having done a fundraiser before, they ended up hitting huge numbers – with over 4600 donations across 36 hours ensuring a resounding success of nearly £800,000 raised! It’s practically unheard of for a charity that has that little experience in fundraising to be so successful from a standing start!
‘Future Dreams’ is a charity that aids people fighting breast cancer. As the Covid-19 pandemic hit and NHS cancer provisions became harder to access, they began to see soaring demand for their services. The added problem was that they also saw a huge decline in revenue.
With our expert team backing them every step of the way, they ended up raising over 200% of their target – almost £1.5m! This represented nearly 75% of their annual budget – raised in just 36 hours!
It’s so very heart-warming to see how people get behind such initiatives. These stories make all our efforts worthwhile.
There are many reasons, but for me, the clincher is the social aspect. Crowdfunding is almost never about the cause. Whether it’s a sponsored walk, a bike ride, a school, or anything else – invariably, the donors give because a friend, a family member or a work colleague is asking them to. The personal connection between donor and fundraiser is what makes this type of giving so special. The donors say to themselves “If it’s important to them, it’s important to me too”.
One thing’s for certain – it definitely works! In the past 3 years alone, charities using our feature-rich, powerful platform have raised over £500million!
I am very much looking forward to meeting colleagues from across the fundraising sector and from the wider charity sector. I’m excited to hear about how these charities make a difference and discuss how we could be part of their incredible journey!