CharitMeImpact education
Giving well is a skill. This is what we think is worth understanding about where donations go, how to read a campaign, and what impact claims are actually worth.
Six things worth knowing
Written for donors, but useful to anyone running a campaign too.
Where your money actually goes
A donation on CharitMe splits three ways: the campaign, the payment processor, and an optional tip you choose. There is no mandatory platform cut. The exact split is shown before you confirm, not after.
Why “% to programmes” is a weak signal
Overhead ratios are easy to game and punish organisations that invest in staff and systems. A charity spending 20% on operations may deliver far more than one spending 5% and achieving little. Ask what changed, not what percentage was spent.
Reading a campaign critically
Look for a specific goal with a breakdown, a real name and face, evidence attached, and updates posted after launch. Vagueness about what the money is for is the single most useful warning sign.
Restricted vs unrestricted giving
Money earmarked for one purpose cannot be moved when circumstances change. Unrestricted gifts are less satisfying to picture and usually more useful to the recipient.
Recurring beats one-off
A predictable $10 a month is worth more to an organisation than an unpredictable $120 once, because it can be planned against. Recurring donors also stay engaged far longer.
Tax deductibility is not automatic
Gifts to individuals are generally not tax deductible; gifts to verified nonprofits usually are. CharitMe marks verified nonprofit campaigns explicitly, and issues receipts for those gifts.
How impact is measured
Three levels, in increasing order of difficulty and decreasing order of how often you will see them reported.
Outputs
What was delivered — meals served, nights of shelter, treatments funded. Easy to count, and only the first step.
Outcomes
What changed for the people involved. Harder to measure, and the thing that actually matters.
Counterfactual
What would have happened anyway without the donation. The honest question, and the one most impact reporting avoids.
What we publish about ourselves
We hold ourselves to the same standard this page asks of everyone else.
Transparency reporting
Our fee model, payout timing, and how donations are handled are documented in full, including the parts that are unflattering.
Trust & safety
How campaigns are reviewed, what gets a campaign removed, and how to report one that concerns you.
Platform reports
Aggregate figures on what has been raised and where it went.
Put it into practice
Browse live campaigns and apply the questions on this page to a few of them.