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Donate Your Desktop adds eight charities to its line up

New Zealand-based fundraising startup Donate Your Desktop (DYD) has partnered with eight new charities, with the hope that added choice will bring in new users and boost lagging advertising sales.

DYD launched in April with an application that places advertisements on people’s desktops. The ads are matched to the user’s profile, and in return their charity of choice receives 75 percent of the ad revenue (DYD taking the rest).

DYD currently has 3600 users, who by October raised a total of $4000 for charity. 

For the first six months the startup had an exclusive agreement with Oxfam, WWF, Starship, and the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation as anchor charities. 

Now the Auckland City Mission, Coastguard New Zealand, Duffy Books, Make-a-wish NZ, Arthritis NZ, Diabetes NZ, Foundation for Youth Development, and Amnesty International have jumped on board.

DYD director David Hillier says the majority of the charities approached DYD seeking to partner with it after the exclusivity period ended. He says having a variety of charities means users are more likely to connect because of personal experiences and affiliation.

‘I think people are more likely to stick with it if they really care about the charity they’re supporting,” says Hillier.

“It’s like with all things digital, it’s about providing the user with choice.”

Hillier says the added charities provide an opportunity to market Donate Your Desktop using the charities’ networks and brand power.

“We’ve gotten this far mostly on personal capital. We don’t have the necessary budget to get this really out there. We’re really getting behind the charities to use their networks and supporters to promote Donate Your Desktop,” says Hillier.

The current userbase of 3600 and donation of $4000 is nowhere near the numbers DYD needs to continue operating, says Hillier.

“We want to get to around 10,000 users to be able to negotiate with the larger media networks and advertising buyers. Right now we’ve got mostly boutique advertisers,” says Hillier.

University of Waikato, University of Auckland, Heinz Watties, and Mediaworks are amongst the largest advertisers DYD has retained. 

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