WATERLOO REGION Capacity Waterloo Region announced today that it is accepting donations in Bitcoin.
“Our organization encourages innovation in the charitable non-profit sector, and adopting Bitcoin to give donors more choice certainly reflects that,” said Andrew Wilding, Capacity Waterloo Region’s director of operations.
“We’re one of the few non-profits in the southern Ontario doing this. We hope we can provide some leadership for our local charitable community. It also fits well in Waterloo Region’s technology community.’’
Bitcoin is a stateless, digital currency that began in 2008, allowing transactions to flow across borders anonymously and without incurring foreign-exchange fees. Although it isn’t controlled by any central bank, Bitcoin can be converted into standard money, which is why businesses — and charities — are offering it as an option for consumers and donors.
Networks of computers running complicated mathematical problems extract or “mine” the limited supply of Bitcoins. One Bitcoin is currently worth about $900 CAD.
The holder of a Bitcoin account, or “wallet” goes to the Capacity Waterloo Region donations page, chooses the Bitcoin option and fills in the amount to be donated in Canadian dollars.
This creates an invoice with the amount converted to Bitcoin. The exchange rate holds for 15 minutes. Donors can add contact information for a tax receipt or remain anonymous.
Bitcoin processing engines tend to have lower processing fees than credit card and third-party payment solutions, says Shubhagata Sengupta, Capacity’s digital media coordinator.
“This means more of the donation gets to the non-profit,” he says.
For more information, contact:
Andrew Wilding
Director of Operations
Capacity Waterloo Region
519-513-2606, ext. 2
[email protected]
Capacity Waterloo Region brings together the ideas, people and resources that drive social change. Our vision is to change lives through courageous community organizations. We are accomplishing this by providing non-profit leaders new resources and professional support that enhances leadership skills, stimulates cross-sector collaboration, promotes knowledge sharing, and encourages social innovation.
