You already know the why and the how of donating to nonprofits, so why use a new online service?

Giving feels good.  Especially with HelpAttack!

It feels good to give $10, and better to give $100, to a great cause.  But does it feel 10 times better to give $100?  It doesn’t, and some great research has discovered that you feel best when you give small amounts, often.  In the back of your mind, every time you tag, Tweet, update, upload, and all that stuff, you’re doing a little bit of good.  Combine that with the fact that people who give and volunteer regularly live longer, happier lives!

It’s social.

When you make a one time or recurring donation through the mail or on a nonprofit’s website, you might mention it once or twice to a friend, but that’s it.  With HelpAttack!, it’s easy to spread the word about your good deed and to encourage others to join you.  Giving and then encouraging others to do the same is very powerful! You bring the giving power of people you know.  As you pledge and give on HelpAttack!, you can opt to ask your friends, family, and other circles to join you.  They’ll see that you’ve formed a relationship with a great cause, and that says a lot.  Even with new, online tools, people still give because they are asked, because of immediate needs, and because people they know give.  It’s unlikely that donating by mail or on the nonprofit’s website will lead to this kind of social interest.

You form a stronger relationship with your cause.

With HelpAttack!, you take one habit (using social media) and turn it into a new, better habit (giving).  Because you are more likely to think about, and consider the value of, your nonprofit many times during your pledge, we think you will be more likely to stick with them in the future.

If you already have set up a recurring donation to your favorite nonprofit, keep going!  The last thing we want to do is interrupt you.  But if you are donating for the first time, or if you want to do more than just submit a transaction, give us a try!

Comparison Shopping

You can also compare HelpAttack! with other methods of giving

Text / SMS Donations

Even though people tend to respond quickly to texting campaigns, the funds don’t reach the nonprofit for 3-6 months, as the money moves slowly through your phone company.  Nonprofits also can’t learn about their donors at all, which means it’s difficult to say thanks, and let you know about other ways to get involved.  Finally, a very large percentage of the funds texted in a $10 donation are used up in overhead, compared to other methods.

All that aside, SMS is still one of the best ways to give when you’re on the go, when you hear an urgent appeal, and you just don’t want to deal with typing in a bunch of form fields on your phone.

Donating on the nonprofit’s website

This method of giving has low overhead, and the nonprofit has the highest degree of control over the experience.  On the other hand, submitting your credit card information on the nonprofit’s website tends not to be easily shareable – if you are particularly inspired you can post about your donation on Facebook or Twitter, but that kind of encouragement to your friends is rarely built in.  You are also unlikely to return to interact with the nonprofit if you make a one time donation.

Direct (paper) Mail

Some nonprofits spend more on mailings than they recoup in your first donation – it’s only recurring direct mail donors that allow this channel to continue.  Plus, it’s not social, and kills trees!  Why encourage that when you could give online?

Try it out!

That’s our long winded pitch about why you should donate to your favorite cause with HelpAttack! If you made it this far, you could have signed up and made 50 pledges in the time it took to read this, so get going!