By
Godfrey Benjamin
January 9th, 2024
BitPay has recently announced that it will support the American Red Cross by receaving donations via digital currency.
BitPay, the largest global bitcoin payment service provider headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, has started supporting the American Red Cross (ARC) by helping the organization accept bitcoin donations through a BitPay hosted webpage. BitPay has offices throughout North America, Europe, and South America. The company has exploited over $32 million from top investors, such as Founders Fund, Sir Richard Branson, and Index Ventures.
ARC is one of the earliest, largest and most recognized humanitarian organizations, founded in 1881 by Clara Barton for domestic disaster relief. Since that time, the organization has developed to support worldwide community initiatives and is commonly centralized on alleviating victims of natural disasters and war. The Red Cross has multiple ways for individuals to donate, but this will be the first time they will be accepting bitcoin donations using BitPay.
“Introducing the American Red Cross to the bitcoin community is really going to showcase the generosity of this new group of consumers,” said Elizabeth Ploshay, BitPay’s nonprofit outreach supervisor. “Bitcoin users are extremely passionate people who are looking to put their bitcoin towards good causes. I’m sure the community will be excited to have such an established charity to donate to.”
BitPay will be dealing with the bitcoin donations without any fees, which means that the Red Cross will receive 100% of the bitcoin donations made via BitPay’s webpage. Besides, the service enables bitcoin donors to donate different amounts, including small donations, opening up a new way to give for people who are on limited budgets.
Furthermore, ARC is participating in the newly established bitcoin tradition called Bitcoin Black Friday – a day for bitcoin users to take advantage of bitcoin-specific sales opportunities. The Red Cross is listed on the official Bitcoin Black Friday website in addition to the official Bitcoin Giving Tuesday website to help bitcoin users spread some holiday cheer.
The American Red Cross’s bitcoin campaign officially starts on Friday, November 28th, and ends on Tuesday, December 2nd, on a day known to Bitcoiners as Giving Tuesday, though the organization will still continue to accept bitcoin donations after the 2nd. However, the organization’s BitPay page is already set up and ready to accept donations.
As many nonprofit organizations already know, accepting bitcoin donations is a great strategy. The Wikimedia foundation has received over $100,000 in bitcoin donations in just the first week after accepting the digital currency. Besides, by accepting bitcoin, there is no risk of chargebacks to the nonprofits and making a donation is quick and easy.
Jennifer Niyangoda, the executive director of Corporate and Foundation Programs, has showed her gratitude towards BitPay:
“The Red Cross is thrilled to partner with BitPay to offer a different way for generous donors to support our humanitarian mission. This gives a new generation of supporters the opportunity to help people in need.”