In the fight against COVID-19, the Italian Red Cross recently completed a successful campaign to raise Bitcoin funds

In 3 days, enough Bitcoins have already been transferred to reach the target of 10,000 euros. After this successful collection round, the organization started a new campaign. You can also donate Bitcoins to the Dutch Red Cross.

Due to the coronavirus, there is a great shortage of equipment all over the world that is needed to cope with the large influx of new patients. Therefore, the Italian Red Cross has recently launched a fundraiser accepting donations in bitcoins.

Special campaign

After the first success, the Italian Red Cross has now expanded the campaign. The Bitcoins are spent on the purchase of resources that increase the personal protection of medical personnel and on additional equipment.

In total, the initiatives raised approximately 20,000 euros. This means that the goal of the second campaign has almost been achieved, but not quite yet. Donations can be made on the HelperBit website, where you can also view the progress of the campaign.

Much of the amount transferred comes from one donor, just over 2.6 BTC. At the time of the transaction, the amount was approximately 13,000 euros. More than the total target amount of the first campaign! In addition, much smaller amounts of bitcoins were also transferred.

Bitcoin and the Red Cross

Collecting money via Bitcoin is quite new for the Red Cross. But according to Colli Albani Bruno Pietrosanti (President of the International Red Cross Committee), an innovative tool such as bitcoin can help to get the necessary funds during these difficult times:

“We need to ease the pressure in hospitalizations, as the number of infected people is increasing and there is a reduced number of available places within hospital facilities. We believe that an innovative fundraising tool like Bitcoin can help us find the necessary economic resources, that are very difficult to obtain in this historical moment. ”

Also read: Bitcoin’s comeback

The Dutch Red Cross also accepts bitcoin donations in the fight against COVID-19. The website also provides a brief explanation of bitcoin donations to the frequently asked questions.

The number of organizations that accept Bitcoin donations is still small, but growing. WikiLeaks is one of the best known and first organizations to accept bitcoins (since 2011). For Wikileaks, donations in bitcoins are a godsend because they are excluded from the traditional banking system. As a result, they cannot receive donations through bank payments.

Since then, more and more charities and organizations accept donations in Bitcoins (and are not controversial), such as UNICEF, War Child, Save the Children and The Water Project. And of course now also the Red Cross.

Dutch organizations, such as the Pirate Party and Bits of Freedom, also accept Bitcoin donations. Through the Dutch startup WhyDonate you can donate Bitcoins for various charities, both large and small. This is also possible through comparable international initiatives, such as BitGive and The Giving Block.

For example, there are many more organizations and projects where you can donate Bitcoins, such as: Wikimedia / Wikipedia, Internet Archives, Mozilla Foundation, Apache Software Foundation, Blender Foundation, LinuxMint OS, GIMP and others. And perhaps unsurprisingly, projects like The Pirate Bay and Tor Project.

Bitcoiners with a big heart

Accepting donations in Bitcoins can be quite smart. The early Bitcoiners have a lot of prosperity and they are often driven by ideals.

A number of special donations have been made over time. For example, a Bitcoiner nicknamed Pine Bitcoin has donated at least $ 47.5 million to charity through the Pineapple Fund. A few months ago, anonymous donors also announced a similar multimillion dollar initiative through The Unknown Fund, although there is no evidence to support it.

Sometimes fundraising is also less “serious”. For example, when the community around Dogecoin (Bitcoin’s infantile and little serious brother) completely aligned with the absurd approach to cryptocurrency, the Jamaican Olympic team decided to sponsor bobsleigh. Otherwise, the money would run out and the team would miss the Winter Olympics in Sochi. The community also helped the team because it was fun.

How do you communicate as an organization about the corona crisis?

The corona crisis requires a different communication approach. During a Q&A session, crisis communication experts Ingrid van Frankenhuyzen and Ewald van Rooij answer burning questions about corona crisis communication, such as: “Is it appropriate to do marketing now?” View the recording immediately.