I welcome the news that fundraising giant JustGiving has scrapped their 5% platform fee for charities.

Back in October 2018, JustGiving removed the fee for all crowdfunding related to disasters and major incidents, and in a boost for good causes and the wider charity sector, they have now taken the further step of removing it altogether following feedback from charities and users of the platform.

Donors will now have the option of making a voluntary contribution towards the service, as opposed to company fees being funded by a percentage of each donation being automatically deducted.

In 2017, concerns were raised by members of the public who had donated to the relief effort following the terrorist attack at the Manchester Arena, over how their donations were being spent. Many people said they had donated while being unaware that a portion of their donation would go towards company fees.

Following this, I met with Wonderful.org, an online fundraising platform based in Manchester which does not charge any fees, and led a debate in Parliament later that year on the issue of fundraising fees, calling for greater transparency over where every penny of money donated to a good cause goes and for platforms to follow Wonderful.org’s example.

I’m glad that JustGiving have taken further steps to make the process of donating to a good cause more transparent and open. In a time when donating to a good cause is increasingly easier to do, it’s vital that the process and platforms give people confidence that all of their generously given money is going where they intended it to.