Crypto giving platforms make it easy to add a donate-with-crypto button to a website. The Fundraising Regulator's guidance, published in October, asks charities to slow down before they do. No crypto gift should be taken, directly or through another service, until trustees have made a strategic decision about whether crypto is acceptable and the risks have been assessed.
- A proactive decision by trustees, tested against the charity's purposes and values, before any gift is offered
- A crypto acceptance policy covering when donations are accepted, refused or returned
- A risk assessment of each proposed gift, even once crypto is accepted in principle
- Due diligence on any third-party platform, wallet or exchange used to take donations
- Training for staff, trustees and volunteers, and openness with donors about the approach
- Records of every donation accepted, refused or returned
The risks it names
Some crypto assets are hard to trace to an identifiable source, and donor anonymity can increase exposure to money laundering, fraud, theft and sanctions evasion. Charities may struggle to tell whether a donation is linked to a proscribed organisation. The guidance also asks charities to consider whether the energy use and social impact of crypto assets sit comfortably with their values.
Whichever approach you take, you must follow every part of the code that applies to you. — Paul Winyard, Fundraising Regulator
A platform does not take the decision for you
A third-party service can handle the conversion and the wallet, but the guidance is clear that the charity still needs to check the service is equipped to carry out adequate due diligence on its behalf. If a platform is offering a widget for your donate page, ask what checks it runs on donors, what you will see about each gift, and how a donation can be refused or returned.
The same applies to any new way of giving. The donate page is the easy part. The policy, the records and the route back into your CRM are what make it safe to switch on.
