Working for a cause

When Tania Burstin introduced the concept of online crowdfunding to the market back in 2007, it was met with hesitation. But today, it’s an institution in Australian fundraising, and has significant applications in the Jewish community too. Phoebe Roth reports.

WHEN Tania Burstin was volunteering for a charity 10 years ago, the team was trying to raise money for a fun run. She recalls it wasn’t easy, coordinating cash and cheques from all directions.

“I thought there must be a better way. I did some research, and decided to start an online fundraising platform where the charity would be the beneficiary, and people could request donations on their own online page from their friends and family,” she explains.

Indeed, it was the first donation platform of its kind in Australia. Little did Burstin expect it would grow to be Australia’s biggest personal-cause crowdfunding site.

“Online fundraising is now quite acceptable, and people understand what it is. But of course in 2007, it was all new,” she says.

Today, mycause has helped raise more than $50 million across thousands of different campaigns helping individuals, groups, charities and more.

“We’re really proud to have helped so many Australian people and Australian charities. And to have raised so much money,” Burstin enthuses.

“Obviously you could always give, but now you can give in a more efficient way. In a way that you’re immediately receipted; in a way that your message gets sent to the beneficiary. There are all those beautiful tools that we have made the giving experience much more enjoyable and authentic, and efficient.”

Among those mycause has helped are Jewish people and charities. For example, when young Jewish father Benny Goldman suddenly became ill and was hospitalised, his family and friends started a mycause campaign.

The campaign raised more than $20,000 to assist Goldman’s family while he recovered, and to support him in building a new career once back on his feet.

“People are in these circumstances, they actually really need crowdfunding. They need the support of their friends and family. It’s a really practical way that people can help. Because people say, ‘How can I help, what can I do?’ It’s a really practical way that you can support people in need,” says Burstin.

“We’re very proud to be able to have helped our local community, as well as the greater Australian community.”

Indeed, Burstin has worked closely with the Jewish community on the topics of donating and -fundraising.

“Obviously having a personal connection with the community, and understanding how the community works, has been very beneficial,” she says.

“And over many years having grown those connections, we’re very proud not only to have raised money for Jewish charities, but we are actually assisting in the learning of best practice to raise money online.”

Using the mycause “Portfolio Giving” option, donors are able to make contributions to multiple charities in one transaction, resulting in one tax receipt – and therefore a lesser tax bill.

“I have a personal opinion, and that is that Jewish donors – and in fact all donors to be honest – need to take control of their giving,” Burstin explains.

As we plan other aspects of our financial lives, she believes it is logical to plan our giving.

“As opposed to reactive giving, where you get a phone call and you donate $36, or $360 or whatever the case may be … I feel that Australians in general and the Jewish community as well need to get to a point where we become proactive givers as opposed to reactive givers,” she says.

Another way Burstin says the Jewish community can utilise mycause is by creating fundraising pages for milestones, such as when a bar mitzvah boy or a bat mitzvah girl might request donations in lieu of gifts.

The advantages include that the money gets securely to the charity, the donor is receipted immediately, and mazal tov messages can easily be sent to the host.

“So that’s a really convenient way of taking donations for simchas,” Burstin says. “And the Jewish community has proven how fabulous they are at simcha giving. That’s a fantastic thing that we do that nobody else really does. So our community should be really proud of that.”

In a more general sense, moving forward, Burstin is excited about expanding mycause’s crowdfunding offering with new features.

“[We’re] constantly improving and innovating ways for people to be able to create and share campaigns,” she says.

In a recent development, mycause is now able to run crowdfunding campaigns for individuals with -tax-deductible donations under certain criteria.

Burstin explains that previously, if you donated to a registered charity or institution, you would get a tax receipt. However, if you donated to a friend, you would not receive a tax receipt.

“What we’ve done now is we’ve created an entity where we can have friends and family members -crowdfund for a loved one and receive tax-deductible donations.

“So this is really extraordinary because that means that Jewish charitable trusts can use this method to donate to individuals.

“It means that a business can donate to an individual and get a tax-deductible receipt. And it also means that a friend can donate and receive a tax-deductible receipt,” she explains.

This new model is applicable for crowdfunding where a person is very ill or in dire need.

“That all just goes towards our constant innovation. So we’re constantly looking for new ways to improve donating, improve -fundraising for charities, for people, for corporates,” she says.

Burstin is married with three children and is a passionate cyclist, routinely getting up at 5am to ride. And although this perhaps is not the path she once expected her career would follow, it is abundantly clear that she is passionate about her work, too.

“We’re pretty lucky to come to work every day and be doing -cutting-edge, innovating work in a technical sense, and in a marketing sense, and in that kind of start-up sense.

“But at the same time, to be helping people. So we’ve got a win-win and the best of both worlds … I’m very proud to do this work.”

Visit www.mycause.com.au.

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