iHelp

Arvostelu

iHelp is a Spanish solidarity crowdfunding platform operated by the Madrid-based Fundacion iHelp. It launched in 2016 as a renewal of Cibersolidaridad.org, a charitable project running since 2001, and presents itself as the first solidarity crowdfunding platform to operate in Spain. Donors and organisations raise money for vetted nonprofit causes through personal solidarity challenges, known as retos solidarios, and direct donations.

The platform vets the legality and viability of the NGOs and causes it lists, and follows up after funds are transferred, framing its model around effective and transparent altruism. iHelp charges no platform commission to either nonprofits or donors; however, its privacy policy notes that a small share of each donation is absorbed by the bank fees applied by financial institutions, a nuance worth weighing against its headline messaging that the whole donation reaches the cause.

iHelp's strengths are its NGO-vetting process and long heritage in Spanish online giving, which lend credibility for donors who want assurance that causes are legitimate. The trade-offs are a relatively small catalogue of active challenges compared with larger Spanish platforms, and limited payment flexibility, since donations are routed through a single Banco Santander payment gateway with no Bizum or PayPal option surfaced on the site. For Spanish donors and vetted NGOs prioritising trust and a commission-light model these limits rarely matter; organisations wanting broad payment choice or high campaign volume may look elsewhere.

Operationally iHelp is a registered foundation rather than a licensed payment institution, with donations processed through Banco Santander's gateway. Its privacy disclosures state that personal data is not communicated outside the European space, and the service is governed by Spanish and EU data-protection law, which matters for Spain-based nonprofits handling donor information under the GDPR.