Alzheimer’s Society, Weejot.com and PayPal to launch new mobile donation app

'Weejot Donate’ to transform charity donations in the UK.

Weejot Donate, a revolutionary new mobile donations service powered by PayPal, is launched today by Alzheimer's Society, mobile app publishing platform Weejot.com and PayPal. The new service allows UK charities to create mobile apps, saving each charity the cost of creating a new mobile platform, as well as removing the time needed to optimise their online offering for mobile and touch screen devices. Charities can now set up their own personalised apps in less than an hour.

Integrated into PayPal's payment service, Weejot Donate also enables people to give spontaneously in response to social media, SMS, email and QR code campaigns. It also allows donors to use their internet browser as opposed to downloading a native app.

As the official launch charity, Alzheimer's Society will be the first to benefit from extending its fundraising capabilities by deploying Weejot Donate. This will allow the charity to capitalise on the 500% increase in mobile traffic to its website over the last two years.

The charity sector as a whole is under increasing pressure in the UK as donations continue to fall in difficult economic conditions:

  • One in six charities believe they may face closure in the coming year, according to the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF)
  • Figures released recently by the Institute of Fundraising (IOF) report that nine out of ten charities are experiencing a squeeze on fundraising

We're hugely excited to be the first charity to benefit from this app. There is no doubt that the current economic climate has made fundraising challenging. However we can't ignore the fact that technology is changing and now is the time for us to consider how we can adapt to these changes,"

Liz Monks, Director of Fundraising, Alzheimer's Society

"This app will make it so much easier for people when they attend an event or see an advert and want to make a one off donation. This will enable us to raise more money to support people with dementia and their carers," she adds. "It is also great that smaller charities that wouldn't usually have the funding for something like this will also be able to take advantage of it."

Suraj Kika, CEO, Jadu the company behind the Weejot.com platform states: "With Weejot Donate, we aim to transform mobile donations in the UK. By providing a strong mobile donating platform for charities to take advantage of the rapid uptake of smartphones and touch screen devices, we hope to give the UK charity sector access to the rapidly growing mobile payments market."

"The smartphone and the tablet will transform charitable giving over the next few years", said John Lunn, Global Director of PayPal's Developer Network. "Weejot Donate is a breakthrough, giving charity supporters a fast and secure way to donate via PayPal wherever they are, while making it amazingly easy for good causes to set up a mobile-friendly appeal. Almost 60% of PayPal donations to Comic Relief this year were from smartphones and tablets. This shows that people love the convenience of mobile giving, even when they're on the sofa at home watching TV."

Charities can sign up for free here: http://weejot.com/charities 

About Alzheimer's Society

  • One in three people over 65 will develop with dementia
  • Alzheimer's Society research shows that 800,000 people in the UK have a form of dementia, more than half have Alzheimer's disease. In less than ten years a million people will be living with dementia. This will soar to 1.7 million people by 2051
  • Alzheimer's Society champions the rights of people living with dementia and the millions of people who care for them
  • Alzheimer's Society works in England, Wales and Northern Ireland
  • Alzheimer's Society has a plan to deal with dementia. Help us support people to live well today and fight for a world without dementia tomorrow. We rely on voluntary donations to continue our vital work. You can donate now by calling 0845 306 0898 or visiting alzheimers.org.uk
  • Alzheimer's Society provides a National Dementia Helpline, the number is 0300 222 11 22 or visit alzheimers.org.uk

About PayPal

PayPal is the faster, safer way to pay and get paid online. The service allows members to send money without sharing financial information, with the flexibility to pay using their account balances, bank accounts or credit and debit cards. With more than 123 million active accounts in 190 markets and 25 currencies around the world, PayPal enables global ecommerce. More information can be found at www.paypal.co.uk or www.paypal.co.uk/blog

About Jadu.

Published: 26th March 2013