Most of these sites earn revenues by negotiating a discount with retailers, keeping part of it for themselves, and then passing the rest along to the charities that their customers choose. Charity-auction sites offer another way to give. They usually work by sending the proceeds of a given sale to a cause chosen by the donor of the item being auctioned. So far, the online charity-auction business has proved to be only modestly successful. Then there are sites that simply give people a way to contribute to the organizations of their choice.
Young people are especially comfortable online.
When they do AIDS walks or bike rides for cancer, we're going to make it possible for them to sign up their sponsors online. Or, when a natural disaster occurs somewhere in the world and people want to help, we'll provide information and an immediate way to contribute. The most compelling explanation is that most people still aren't aware that online giving is an option. But there are other reasons as well. The NCIB analyzes the effectiveness of hundreds of charities and makes its findings available at a relatively modest cost.