LENDonate has created a new ecosystem for non-profit funding, to connect non-profit organisations with investors and philanthropists who are keen to offer support.
The company has partnered with peer-to-peer lending Software as a Service (SaaS) provider White Label Crowdfunding (WLCF) to develop their funding platform.
The LENDonate platform allows borrowing non-profit organisations to showcase their programs and encourage users to lend or donate, and enables lenders and borrowers to connect, complete agreements and establish repayment processes.
Given the regulatory specifications, high technological requirements and fast pace of the industry, LENDonate decided to entrust experts with the creation of the platform. They chose to work with WLCF, largely due to the company’s extensive experience with lending, equity funding, and reward and donation platforms.
LENDonate founder Vivienne Hsu says the platform is a philanthropic addition to the P2P lending industry. “The idea was born from my dedication to fundraising for non-profits and experience in the investment industry. It was designed to enable users to invest in a loan, donate to an organisation, or both as the name suggests — lend and donate.”
Lenders can sign up to the site, complete an accreditation process, digitally sign a document, and answer some straightforward questions to then become an accredited user, able to both lend and donate. They are granted access to their profiles and dashboards, as well as the marketplace and the loan profile pages, and can add and withdraw funds.
The WLCF team worked on system features to fulfil the requirements of the LENDonate project. There are two repayment types on the platform: fixed and interest only, and fees are applied to borrowers, lenders and sponsors. A borrower is charged a loan completion fee of 1% of the loan amount and a donation processing fee of 2% of the amount. Individual lenders or sponsors pay a $99 annual fee, while institutions are charged 0.85% of the repayment amount.
For bidding, a formula reflecting the priority ranking system was created and implemented, meaning that the highest priority ranking bid is accepted, with the lowest then being outbid. For dynamic loans, there is a minimum and maximum rate for each loan, and bids can be placed within that range.
“LENDonate was launched in late 2016, just seven months after the project began and the platform continues to thrive,” Vivienne concludes.