Click-to-donate site

{{Short description|Type of website}}

{{for|websites where people donate their own money|crowdfunding}}

A click-to-donate site is a website where users can click a button to generate a donation for a charity without spending any of their own money. The money for the donation comes from advertisers whose banners are displayed each time a user clicks the button.{{Cite web |date=March 18, 2009 |title=Ask Andy: Click-to-donate sites |url=https://www.actionnews5.com/story/10029754/ask-andy-click-to-donate-sites |access-date=2021-10-20 |work=WMC TV Action 5 News |location=Memphis, TN |language=en}}{{Cite web |last1=Stonesifer |first1=Patty |last2=Stonesifer |first2=Sandy |date=April 8, 2009 |title=Do "click to give" sites actually do good? |url=https://slate.com/human-interest/2009/04/do-click-to-give-sites-actually-do-good.html |access-date=2021-10-20 |website=Slate Magazine |language=en}} While not directly contributing (though many sites offer additional ways of support), visitors are making a difference in the sense that, had they not visited, no donation would have been given.

In most cases, the donation generated by each user only amounts to a few cents, but the goal is to accumulate enough clicks to add up to a significant amount.

Many charities launched this style of program in the late 1990s. However, the constriction of online advertising spending around 2001 following the dot-com collapse caused many sites to be closed. Yet there are still many in operation, notably Freerice,[http://www.freerice.com/totals.php/ "FreeRice: Totals." FreeRice. 2009. 4 May 2009] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090427054835/http://www.freerice.com/totals.php |date=27 April 2009 }} The Hunger Site, and Por Los Chicos.{{cite news | url=https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/dan-un-plato-de-comida-por-cada-click-nid395755 | work=La Nación | title=They give food for each click | date=11 May 2002 | access-date=23 January 2020}} (in Spanish)

Flattr and CentUp (now defunct) used click-to-donate technology on many sites instead of being centralized on just one.{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8512263.stm | work=BBC News | title=Pirate boss to make the web pay | date=February 12, 2010 | access-date=May 2, 2010}}