Donasity Connects Nonprofits to Donors

By Jim Molis

Donasity’s founders knew that they could develop a better way to give online.

Now, they say that the website offers “The Smartest Way to Give.”

Launched in Oct. 2015, Jacksonville-based donasity has helped nonprofits raise funds for varied causes such as disaster relief, social action, healthcare, arts and education. Nonprofits keep every dollar raised and donors can track and report their giving, even among multiple charities.

“We made everything as easy as it can be for both sides to use,” CEO Oliver Brown said.

Donors can give to as many as five fundraisers at once and only pay a 4.95 percent transaction fee, ?) which Brown said is below the average credit card processing fee of 5 percent to 13 percent for nonprofits. Nonprofits can launch fundraisers for no cost and get free coaching (in English or Spanish) to help them achieve their goals.

Brown said that Donasity also offers the following advantages over other nonprofit fundraising sites.

• Funds are not tied up for set periods of time (i.e. 90 days).
• Organizations keep all donations whether they reach their targeted total or not.
• Downloadable donor lists simplify recordkeeping for nonprofits.

Brown and Chief Operating Officer Jim Healy created donasity—named as a blend of “donation” and “generosity—as a way to fulfill their entrepreneurial ambitions as well as their mutual desire to help nonprofits.

Both Brown and Healy left corporate America to pursue the venture. A U.S. Army Veteran and financial management professional with more than 25 years of experience, Brown left the Jacksonville office of Deutsche Bank and was also previously one of the founding members of the Jacksonville Military Veterans Coalition.

Donasity has become an alternative to nonprofit fundraising sites such as Causes, Give Forward and GoFundMe. Online giving rose by 9.2 percent to $2.2 billion From 2014 to 2015 while overall charitable giving increased 1.6 percent to $18.2 billion, according to the Blackbaud 2015 Charitable Giving Report.

Donasity wants to help increase the online giving rate, from 7 percent in 2015 to 12 percent to 18 percent before 2020, Brown said. It is marketing to nonprofits, which in turn can draw donors to the site.

More than 1.5 million nonprofits are registered with the IRS in the U.S,, including 69,000 in Florida, according to donasity. Only about half have an online presence, Brown said.

Donasity hopes to bring more nonprofits online and to help them succeed by providing free learning resources, exposure to donors and a convenient, cost-effective way to raise funds—offering “The Smartest Way to Give.”