A click-to-donate site is a
website
A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Wikip ...
where users can click a button to generate a
donation
A donation is a gift for charity, humanitarian aid, or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including money, alms, services, or goods such as clothing, toys, food, or vehicles. A donation may satisfy medical needs suc ...
for a
charity
Charity may refer to:
Giving
* Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons
* Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing
* Ch ...
without spending any of their own money. The money for the donation comes from
advertiser
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
s whose banners are displayed each time a user clicks the button. While not directly contributing (though many sites offer additional ways of support), visitors are making a difference in the sense that, had they not visited, no donation would have been given.
In most cases, the donation generated by each user only amounts to a few cents, but the goal is to accumulate enough clicks to add up to a significant amount.
Many charities launched this style of program in the late 1990s. However, the constriction of online advertising spending around 2001 following the
dot-com collapse caused many sites to be closed. Yet there are still many in operation, notably
Freerice,
The Hunger Site, and
Por Los Chicos.
[ (in Spanish)]
Flattr and CentUp (now defunct) used click-to-donate technology on many sites instead of being centralized on just one.
See also
*
Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance. In 2015, over was rais ...
*
Microfinance
References
External links
* – An active listing of click-to-donate links.
{{charity
Online charity