IndoKasih gives crowdsourced peace of mind to Indonesian benefactors

Charities know that it costs money to raise money. Most Indonesian charities are not transparent, meaning no one actually knows if donations actually end up in the right hands, according to Adam D’arcy, head of product for IndoKasih. D’arcy’s startup aims to solve that problem.

D’arcy calls IndoKasih the nation’s social charity crowdfunding site for individuals looking to raise funds for good causes through friends or communities on social media. According to him, there is no other website similar to IndoKasih in the archipelago.

“This concept is relatively new to the people in Indonesia,” says D’arcy. “People are willing to spend lots of time creating a fundraising page, but they aren’t familiar with asking friends, family, or colleagues for donations.”

Marathons, volcanoes, and cash

Here’s how IndoKasih works: Users sign up on the website and create a page that explains what they will do to raise money for a specific charity. This can be anything from running multiple marathons back-to-back to trekking up seven volcanos in a single week, for example. Donors act as traditional sponsors, making financial pledges to the individual performing the activity.

Once the page is complete, users are supposed to invite everyone they know through their social media channels to donate to the cause. Users receive alerts each time someone makes a donation. The site can keep track of the total amount received, and relay encouraging messages from donors and other interested parties. There is transparency as IndoKasih users can track their donations through the website to verify that the charity has actually received the money it was promised.

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IndoKasih launched three months ago, and according to D’arcy, the site has started to see a little bit of traction. While he didn’t mention how many active users IndoKasih currently has, he claims 1,000 people have signed up so far, 350 internet fundraising pages have been launched, and the site serves 20 registered charities. This includes education organizations like Indonesia Mengajar (Indonesia Teach) and Rumah Pandai (Clever House), as well as the World Wildlife Fund and Palang Merah Indonesia (Red Cross Indonesia).

Donors make payments through the site and IndoKasih monetizes by charging a commission based on the amount of money that gets donated to charity. D’arcy says this will be used to cover IndoKasih’s operational expenses. He did not comment on how much of a commission his company collects, and whether or not IndoKasih is a for-profit or non-profit startup. “We believe that once our added value is known, our business will be self-sustainable,” says D’arcy.

Indonesians are willing to give

D’arcy says he is encouraged that IndoKasih will be a success based on data from the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF Bank). As a member of the UK-based Financial Services Compensation Scheme, CAF Bank ranks Indonesia as number 17 in the world on its list of global populations that are willing to donate to charities. It cites a 2011 Gallup report that surveyed 155,000 people in 146 different countries, which claims 30 percent of Indonesians are willing to donate their time to a good cause, while 63 percent are willing to donate money, and 40 percent claim they would help a stranger. The actual number of Indonesian citizens who were polled is not listed in the report.

So far, IndoKasih is a fully bootstrapped operation, and team members include local startup players Wilson Yanaprasetya, Theodora Sunarli, Nayoko Kho, and Arne Van Looveren. D’arcy believes the main challenge for IndoKasih will be educating the market about how the product works to deliver donations transparently to charities.