As the values of Bitcoin and Ether are hovering near record highs, America’s nonprofits are in the peak months of their annual fundraising. Some charitable organizations are hoping to bring those two events together to boost coffers that have taken a hit during the pandemic.
This fall, Pacific Northwest nonprofits including the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Mary’s Place, an organization supporting women and families experiencing homelessness, have started directly accepting donations of cryptocurrency.
While it’s early days, the response so far has been muted: Fred Hutch reports two crypto gifts, and Mary’s Place is working out details with a donor who is offering a “sizable match” — in regular dollars — for crypto donations received during the upcoming GivingTuesday event. 501 Commons, the nonprofit that organizes GivingTuesday and GiveBIG events in Washington, said few nonprofits in the state are directly accepting crypto at this point.
“This is brand new. In the world of philanthropy, things take a while,” said Kelly O’Brien, vice president of philanthropy for Fred Hutch.
But change is coming as cryptocurrencies are becoming increasingly mainstream.
‘This is brand new. In the world of philanthropy, things take a while.’
A new Pew Research Center survey found that 86% of Americans report having heard of crypto and 16% have traded or used the blockchain money.
The crypto-philanthropy sector has likewise been gaining steam. The Giving Block and Engiven, two of the most popular crypto-giving platforms, both launched in 2018 and a leading philanthropic news site published crypto how-to articles that year.
Three years later, The Giving Block is expecting to facilitate cryptocurrency donations directly to charities totaling between $100 million and $150 million, according to co-founder…
