FAQs for charities using Makerble to collect donations 

What is Makerble?

If you’re a charity searching for new fundraising ideas then Makerble is a great online fundraising and marketing platform to add to your toolkit. Our users make regular online donations to your projects and follow the impact that you’re making on the ground.


What does Makerble believe in?

Making change: We believe that uniting people with similar passions is a way to make change happen faster. People should be able to easily find and give to projects that match what they care about. There are also lots of incredible small charities who don’t have a big comms budget but are doing amazing work. On Makerble we bring the two together - we enable people to discover new work by amplifying the voices of the smaller charities we know and love.


What happens to the donor data?

Makerble is your CRM for the donors that give to your projects via Makerble. We ran research focus groups in which we learnt that some people had a concern around not thanked for their donations and another around being constantly asked to give more money without being told what their previous donations had achieved.

We know that many charities are great at thanking their supporters and sensitive when requesting additional donations, so that is why we have created a platform that builds on that best practice. On Makerble donors receive thank you messages direct to their profile from the moment they start donating and they receive email notifications reminding them to view your page whenever you share another update about how your project is progressing; in other words, informing donors about what their donations are achieving. On those update pages are sensitive prompts to donate more.

We are building in a greater variety of updates so that you will be able to share volunteering opportunities, fundraising challenges, events and other ways to participate with your community of Followers and Makers on Makerble. By bringing everything together on Makerble we can give donors a consistently positive experience across all the causes they care about and enable every charity irrespective of its size, staffing or experience, to make the most of current best practice in fundraising. When you have suggestions about how we can improve, please do share those with us.

In summary, the Makerble CRM is the only way to engage with people who support you via Makerble. However if you would like the white-label edition of Makerble which gives you full access to all our technology to use as you see fit, then do let us know and we can arrange a meeting. Our white label edition has a customisation fee and tiered monthly fee according to your usage.


Are the funds we raise restricted?

Our core premise is that donors want to see where their money is going and we’ve done a lot of research into this. In keeping with that, funds raised on Makerble must go towards the project specified online. If at any point you need to re-allocate funds, we expect you to share the reasons with your supporters online. Be honest and transparent always.


Is there a limit on how much people can give?

There is no limit for giving and in fact we believe it should be a part of our lifestyle! We frame our gifts as lifestyle amounts - donors give a cappuccino or a gym fee a month rather than just a regular £3 for example.


How do you recruit donors to Makerble and our project?

We could talk for days about this! Let’s keep it brief for now - first of all we work with both individuals and companies. We have a number of marketing campaigns aimed at driving both to our main site, but when you add a project to Makerble we also market that project specifically to individuals.

Being on the site means you have everything in place to be considered for one of our workplace giving schemes. The project that’s live will automatically be eligible should it meet what employees are looking for. But we’ll also be in touch if we work with a company who we think would love a different strand of your work. We value keeping in touch at Makerble so always keep us in the loop of new work streams.


What´s the difference between Makerble’s approach and crowd-funding?

Makerble’s approach is to find regular givers for pieces of ongoing work. Crowdfunding sites ask for a one-off donation towards a specific piece of work.


What is gamification and how does Makerble use it?

Gamification is the concept of applying game design thinking in non-game contexts to make them more fun and engaging. This is why we give Makers rewards and why we have change badges to itemise the impact they make on their personal profile.

What are the causes? What are sub causes?

The 9 causes are:

  • Animals
  • Children & Youth
  • Culture
  • Education
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Poverty
  • Rights and freedom
  • Vulnerable adults

You can also tag projects with sub causes.


How do I open the CHV1 form pdf?

If you are having difficulty opening the digital version of the CHV1 Form, you can use the pen & paper edition. Once you download and print it you can fill it using an ink pen.

Download the pen & paper version here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/498ciunrnilu7ut/Makerble%20CHV1%20Form%20pen%20and%20paper.pdf?dl=0

Creating projects on Makerble

How do I get started?

Have you signed in? On Makerble everyone signs up as an individual and then creates a charity. If you have a username and are signed in, go to the sitemap at the bottom of the page and click ‘Charity Signup’. If you aren’t yet signed up go to Charity Signup’ and then click ‘Sign Up and Create Charity’ below the video there to get started.


What happens once I’m logged in?

You’ll be asked for your charity number and then taken through the project creation process. You can skip the project creation process if you want to have an explore and browse the site. Either way, you’re very nearly ready to use Makerble as your online fundraising platform.


What happens to the Gift Aid?

If you are a UK registered charity, Makerble reclaims Gift Aid on your behalf. Once you appoint us as your nominee with a CHV1 form - downloadable from our site or from HMRC - we upload donation data to HMRC who then transfer the Gift Aid directly into your bank account.

How long will it take to set up?

We would assume the following:

  • Registering your personal account and charity account takes under five minutes.
  • Writing a project takes fifteen minutes but you can spend more time finessing it if you wish. You can find more information on projects below.
  • Getting your CHV1 form signed off by two senior team members will depend on your internal sign-off process. If you’re small and lean it will take five minutes. Posting us your chv1 form, a paying in slip and signing and posting our letter of transparency will take five minutes

Of course it always depends, but this can give you an idea and some guidance. And if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

What sort of projects do you look for?

We recommend putting up an ongoing piece of work that is currently covered by unrestricted funding which can be moved when funds come in. We call this ‘budget relief’ because funds from us ease the strain on your current budget and free it up to be spent on other work. So have a think about what work you have on at the moment and where some regular income and marketing would be useful. Once you know what that looks like you have your project! If you still aren’t sure you can ask us.

Can I have more than one project online?

Yes! You can raise money and support for multiple projects online. Where possible, we encourage you to provide a diversity of projects that take place in different locations or could appear under different cause categories. Our 9 cause categories are Animals, Children & Youth, Culture, Education, Environment, Health, Poverty, Rights and freedom, Vulnerable adults.

Why do I need to create a personal account?

First and foremost people buy into people, not organisations. That is why on Makerble we display the staff profiles of the people who run the projects at each charity. Having a picture is a brilliant way of showing donors who you are and making your work feel approachable and tangible. NB: We don’t accept charity logos as a profile picture so if you use one of these, donors will see our default makerble image.

What are project updates?

Updates on Makerble are the main means of communicating with your donors and followers. In the digital age it’s so easy to share what is happening as it unfolds. Just log in, write a couple of lines of text and optionally add a picture, video or audio clip and that´s it. We have some guidance and ideas for updates here and here’s a great example from the World Medical Fund for Children and their project online.

Who is eligible to post a project?

You must be a charity registered with your country’s regulatory body, e.g. the Charity Commission in England and Wales or the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator in Scotland.

How much time does it take to use Makerble on an ongoing basis?

10 minutes a month max. The only thing we want you to do is to keep the users updated because that will keep them interested in the work you're doing and build their understanding; all because you've made them feel like they were there. They really want to understand the realities of changing the world and you are at the forefront of that on the front line making that happen. You are the perfect person to provide them with a real, enlightening, frontline view.

Is there a limit on the number of staff that can use Makerble?

Not at all. Every project needs to have one project leader but you can also add other team members or volunteers and allocate different levels of sign off.

Who is the charity leader - does it need to be our CEO?

Your charity’s main Makerble contact or someone who represents your charity to donors on Makerble.

Is there a limit to how long my project can exist on Makerble?

No. Unlike other online fundraising sites with finite times and specific fundraising goals, we’re about continuous work streams and actual costs not necessarily one-off asks you need to raise money for.

Do we need to use photos of real people and their real names in our updates?

Protecting privacy is important, so if it´s appropriate to use a fake name and alternative picture that´s fine. Just state that in your update. That´s transparent without compromising privacy or security, e.g. “names have been changed”.

Can we estimate the changes made or must we be exact?

Be as precise as possible and share if it’s an estimate.

Do you need us to send you evidence of the change made?

You choose how much evidence you wish to share. You can publish it in update form and donors are free to ask you in FAQ form to provide this if they wish.

What is the thank you message?

This is your personalised message which will be automatically sent to people when they start donating to your project. Make it fun and original.

Costs

What does it cost?

At Makerble we charge a 4% commission on the gross donation. Our payment provider Stripe charges 1.9% +20p per transaction for UK cards and 2.9% +20p for International cards. There are no set-up or monthly charges involved so it only costs once it's working for you. The 4% commission is re-invested in making us the best online platform and improving the site.

Glossary

What is change?

At Makerble we’re focused on the change you are making in the world. But what does this mean on the site? When we say ‘change’ think ‘impact’. At the moment we record impact in outputs and outcomes and then go one step further and design a badge for each one. We make badges so that both donors and charities can keep track and have an itemised, visual breakdown of the change you’re making in the world.

What are project leaders?

‘Project Leaders’ on Makerble are the people who run the project. They are our direct line to the work happening on the ground, able to tell is all about it.

What are editors?

Editors can create, edit and delete new updates and edit charity or project information. They can also edit and sign off updates that have been drafted by reporters. In short, they have access-all-areas passes.

What are reporters?

Reporters can also edit information and create updates but hey aren’t able to publish updates.

What are budget items?

To make creating change as simple and transparent as possible for our users, we ask project leaders to specify all the project costs. These are called ‘Budget items’ and can be seen on the project page of any project. Include staff time, stationary etc. Whatever will cost money in the project should be listed.