GBFR: How many entrepreneurial projects are you currently involved in?
CMS: I’m only involved in Charity Checkout now. I do not have time for anything else.
GBFR: What was your first entrepreneurship and how old were you at the time?
CMS: I used to go down to mobile phone shops and ask for all the unwanted dummy mobile phones. I’d then sell them on eBay for about £3-5 each. I think I was about 10 years old then, I remember thinking that I was doing well by quadrupling my pocket money!
GBFR: When did you graduate from University College London?
CMS: 2011
GBFR: What degree did you earn there?
CMS: BA Philosophy
GBFR: How has it shaped your present?
CMS: I spent most of my time at UCL focusing on my business. They gave me a huge amount of support and were really pivotal in the founding of Online Giving Ltd. I won a competition at UCL that offered a £20,000 start-up loan, so UCL was actually our first seed investor!
GBFR: What is the difference between AliveandGiving.com, Online Giving Ltd, and CharityCheckout.co.uk?
CMS: Online Giving Ltd owns both those sites. AliveandGiving.com is a free site that we run to support charities with online fundraising. Charity Checkout is our core business; it is an online donation system for a charity’s own website.
GBFR: Tell me how Charity Checkout works.
CMS: Charity Checkout is a charity donation system for a charity’s website offering them regular giving options, branded donation pages and a Gift Aid reclaim service. The system allows any charity to accept payments directly on their own website very cheaply.
GBFR: Earlier this year you removed the donor’s fee for Charity Checkout. Why?
CMS: Charity Checkout is designed to allow charities to accept donations directly via their own website. We wanted to ensure that donor’s were reassured that this was the most effective way of giving, so we decided to process the payments for free.
GBFR: What inspired you to pursue charity services in this economic landscape?
CMS: I’ve always wanted to work with charities and I wouldn’t let the state of the economy put me off.
GBFR: How did you locate and persuade your investors to come on board?
CMS: I met our lead investor at an event held by UCL and rest via The London Angel Club. I showed them what we had already achieved and our plans for growth. They seemed impressed enough to invest.
GBFR: How have your ventures affected your personal lifestyle?
CMS: I get to the office at about 9am and go home at 7pm, which is fine. However, I do tend to do quite a bit of work from home in the evenings and weekends too. I enjoy it though, so I don’t see it as a problem.
CharityCheckout.co.uk
