Tell us what you thought about Mumsnet Flendr – £300 Love2Shop voucher to be won!

[PoppyMumsnet]

This is the feedback thread for the Mumsnetters who are testing out Mumsnet Flendr, an online platform for organising cash collections and fundraising activities.

For those who haven’t tested Mumsnet Flendr, here’s a bit about it:
The idea is to make it easier to do things like club together for a joint birthday present, collect for a teachers' end-of-year gift, or fundraise for something you care about. All lovely activities, but they often involve some fairly tedious money admin too.

So, if you've ever found yourself stuffing crumpled fivers into envelopes - or having an awkward ‘Er, could give me that money you promised’ conversation with a late payer, then we're hoping Mumsnet Flendr will help.

It's really easy to set up a collection, and people who pledge to chip in get auto-reminders. Contributors can make payments by PayPal, payment card or bank transfer, and organisers get alerts when there's a contribution. And unlike some other big fundraising platforms, all your money will go to your chosen cause, with no hidden charges or fees.

As a further thank you for being a tester, MN Flendr have agreed to contribute £10 to all first-time collections above £30 with more than 3 contributors (in addition to yourself) e.g. if you start a collection for a teacher's present, and collect a combined total of £30 or more from 3 or more people other than yourself, Mumsnet Flendr will add £10 to your collection!

Testers, here are some questions to think about, but also feel free to add any other comments you have about Mumsnet Flendr.

1. How easy did you find Flendr to use?
2. How did you find the process of setting up and running a collection?
3. What did you think of the website? Please tell us what you liked and what improvements you’d make.
4. Flendr might be able to offer group discounts on certain things. Please tell us what sorts of things you’d be interested in e.g. theatre and cinema tickets or places such Alton Towers, Thorpe Park etc...

All testers who add their feedback will be entered into a prize draw where one Mumsnetter will win a £300 Love2Shop voucher.

Thanks, and good luck!

MNHQ

T&Cs apply

One of the people contributing to my fund has next to their contribution 'unverified'... what does this mean and how can i correct that?

1)How easy did you find Flendr to use?
It was very easy to use and helpful for buying joint gifts.

2)How did you find the process of setting up and running a collection?
No problems at all.

3)What did you think of the website? Please tell us what you liked and what improvements you’d make.
Good website but need to be optimised for phones too.

4)Flendr might be able to offer group discounts on certain things. Please tell us what sorts of things you’d be interested in e.g. theatre and cinema tickets or places such Alton Towers, Thorpe Park etc...
Days out is a great idea and shows and concerts.

I do not need to do a collection at the moment so set up a trial account and collection and invited myself to contribute.
1)How easy did you find Flendr to use?
2)How did you find the process of setting up and running a collection?

I thought it was very easy to use and set up a collection although I agree that the space for a Promo code seemed incongruous. I did wonder about Gift Aid as I too have collected money for Scouts and other small local charities in the past.

3)What did you think of the website? Please tell us what you liked and what improvements you’d make.

Fine but the name needs to be changed. I think the lack of transparency about the credit card charge is unacceptable in something labelled so prominently as 'with no hidden charges or fees'.

4)Flendr might be able to offer group discounts on certain things. Please tell us what sorts of things you’d be interested in e.g. theatre and cinema tickets or places such Alton Towers, Thorpe Park etc...

I am not clear how that would work. Who is the offer to?

1)How easy did you find Flendr to use?

It was easy.
2)How did you find the process of setting up and running a collection?

At my end it was fine, but when I sent the link out to people it did look a bit like gobbledygook. It might have been different if I'd sent the "official" email, but I and to send it via Messenger, and it didn't work very well then. Also, because I'd password protected it initially, the password was within that gobbledygook and therefore not very easy to find (it said on the link that the password would be included, which is why I hadn't just told them).

3)What did you think of the website? Please tell us what you liked and what improvements you’d make.
It is great for people who use paypal. Because it was a first run, I paid half my donation by paypal and half by bank transfer and both worked fine. However, I think because people are used to using credit card (plus the protection that credit card payments have), there were a few complaints that they'd be charged for using a card.

That said, I think it is great that there will be a website for setting up collections that aren't for charity and aren't crowdfunding. Among our group of friends we do joint presents quite a lot, and it will be useful for that. It might also be useful for clubs and PTAs etc.

4)Flendr might be able to offer group discounts on certain things. Please tell us what sorts of things you’d be interested in e.g. theatre and cinema tickets or places such Alton Towers...

just because you mentioned Alton Towers and Thorpe Park- a plea that if you do negotiate such deals, they could be all round the country. So many times there are deals for places in the south/midlands of England and the rest of us get left out!! Otherwise, yes theatre/cinema tokens are great - maybe ticketmaster? Flowers? Days out type websites like Red letter day? Even M&S or JL vouchers perhaps.

Thank you so much for choosing me to take part

Having now set up a collection for a friend's baby shower I wanted to say how easy I found this app to use. Everyone followed the instructions to donate to it and they also found it easy to follow.
I didn't see any warning about being charged to use paypal or a card which was a little disappointing but otherwise I would happily use this app again and recommend to a friend.

1)How easy did you find Flendr to use?
Very simple to set everything up. Easy to follow and nice clean layout.

2)How did you find the process of setting up and running a collection?
I only did a demo but set up seemed fine.

3)What did you think of the website? Please tell us what you liked and what improvements you’d make.
I'd like a Quick Start Guide or How To for Set Up, and also how to donate. I think charges should be more upfront.

4)Flendr might be able to offer group discounts on certain things. Please tell us what sorts of things you’d be interested in e.g. theatre and cinema tickets or places such Alton Towers, Thorpe Park etc...
The days out idea is a nice one, also treat vouchers would be great.

1)How easy did you find Flendr to use?
I don't have a need for a collection at the moment, but site seems easy to navigate.

2)How did you find the process of setting up and running a collection?
n/a

3)What did you think of the website? Please tell us what you liked and what improvements you’d make.
Liked the colours and general look of the site. Could be a useful idea as can get complicated when organising collections.

4)Flendr might be able to offer group discounts on certain things. Please tell us what sorts of things you’d be interested in e.g. theatre and cinema tickets or places such Alton Towers, Thorpe Park etc...
This really depends on the specifics so unsure.

I signed up as a tester and worked through the different steps to set something up but couldn't find anyone who would trust their money to the site, so wasn't able to carry out the full test. I showed it to my husband who thought it was a payday loan site because of the references to borrowing money.

1)How easy did you find Flendr to use?
I found it really user-friendly, and straightforward to set up.

2)How did you find the process of setting up and running a collection?
I wasn't able to run a collection because everyone I know was a bit dubious about using it. It doesn't help that I've just gone through an unlucky run of credit card fraud/lost courier deliveries/bogus hotel rooms and I think I've put friends and family off using any new sites!

3)What did you think of the website? Please tell us what you liked and what improvements you’d make.
I think it would be helpful to talk people through how to use it step by step, and to emphasise the security aspects of how money will be held and transferred. Also to make it really clear how it works in terms of LENDING or DONATING money to individuals as it's a bit blurry for some people at the moment.

4)Flendr might be able to offer group discounts on certain things. Please tell us what sorts of things you’d be interested in e.g. theatre and cinema tickets or places such Alton Towers, Thorpe Park etc...
I think top-up bonuses on collections would be a better promotion than 'stuff' because otherwise people would think you're not collecting money with the best of intentions, but because you're hoping to make something off it.

1. Was very simple to use with clear instructions on what to do next.

1. Easy set up, easy to log in and keep track of any donations.

1. I liked the idea and the look/feel of the website. I know many people didn't like the name given. but it's kind of grown on me now.

1. Don't see the point of the group discounts part, I would use it just to collect donations for the charity I support more than anything else.

1. Very straightforward

1. Easy and intuitive.

1. Agreed about harder to deal with on a smaller screen.

1. Anything that is not geographically specific (ie online discounts / vouchers) would be good. We live a long way away from the suggested attractions so they would be no good. Nearest cinema is 100 miles away. But, Netflix, Amazon etc are available everywhere.

1)How easy did you find Flendr to use?
It's very easy to use, a nice clean website.

2)How did you find the process of setting up and running a collection?
Simple, with good privacy options.
3)What did you think of the website? Please tell us what you liked and what improvements you’d make.
I liked the font and layout.
4)Flendr might be able to offer group discounts on certain things. Please tell us what sorts of things you’d be interested in e.g. theatre and cinema tickets or places such Alton Towers, Thorpe Park etc...
cinema and theatre tickets.

1)How easy did you find Flendr to use?
To be honest when I first set up my collection the link for my friends to add to my collection didn't work which was a little embarrassing for me. However, I contacted Flendr and they fixed the problem very quickly.

2)How did you find the process of setting up and running a collection?
I'm not a particularly technically savvy person and I found it straightforward to use once the initial problem had been fixed.

3)What did you think of the website? Please tell us what you liked and what improvements you’d make.
I would make sure the link worked before recommending it to friends. I liked the fact that you got an email informing you when someone had added to the collection. I was disappointed that a 5% charge was added to each donation if they paid by card or Paypal as I didn't read about this beforehand.

4)Flendr might be able to offer group discounts on certain things. Please tell us what sorts of things you’d be interested in e.g. theatre and cinema tickets or places such Alton Towers, Thorpe Park etc...
Group discounts would be a great addition to theme parks, cinema, theatre, spas etc. Any treat that would encourage others to donate to a collection or fundraising.

1)How easy did you find Flendr to use?
Not bad at all, although I have had to get the ID/user confirmation resent a few times after I've done some editing and then logged in again later, which I've found irritating.

2)How did you find the process of setting up and running a collection?
This was fine, easy to sort out a picture, choose what I was setting it up for (gift) and to complete the other elements. I'm not keen at all on having to put a 'goal' amount - it's actually put off a couple of the people who are usually involved in doing the collections.

3)What did you think of the website? Please tell us what you liked and what improvements you’d make.
I like the style and page set up/design but I found it a pain finding some information ,- such as how PayPal is an option for paying your contribution. I've just seen TheCookingMonster 's comment about the % charge on using PayPal which I hadn't twigged, I thought it was less than 5% and was for the final amount collected?
Also, maybe the standard invite email could be changed so it's not 'friends and family members' as that's confused people too.

4)Flendr might be able to offer discounts on certain things. Please tell us what sorts of things you’d be interested in e.g. theatre and cinema tickets or places such Alton Towers, Thorpe Park etc... if the collection is being made for a person or an event I'm not sure a discount on the above would be useful? What exactly would the discount be applied to? A voucher purchased through Flendr (still dislike the name!) I don't think anyone in my group would want that unless it was for a general voucher that the rep could use on the high street to buy gifts.

1)How easy did you find Flendr to use?
it was simple to use, easy to set up and get going
2)How did you find the process of setting up and running a collection?
simple and straight forward
3)What did you think of the website? Please tell us what you liked and what improvements you’d make.
i did like the website. it felt familiar and safe
4)Flendr might be able to offer group discounts on certain things. Please tell us what sorts of things you’d be interested in e.g. theatre and cinema tickets or places such Alton Towers, Thorpe Park etc..
discounts on cinema tickets would be great, and theatre too. You can always find discounts for theme parks elsewhere, so not fussed about that!

1)How easy did you find Flendr to use?
The site was relatively easy and quick to register and login in with. It also seems quick and hassle free to set up a collection. As it was run by mumsnet initially i thought i could use my mumsnet username and password to login so tried to login initially with this until i realised it wasn't working!

2)How did you find the process of setting up and running a collection?
I was able to set up a small collection up as a test run and found this very simple to set up and then donate to.

3)What did you think of the website? Please tell us what you liked and what improvements you’d make.
The website is simple in design and layout . The colour scheme is in keeping with the Mumsnet brand. but i don't think visually its anything special. I think its great that it is free to use and i think I will be using this in future when trying to do collections for birthdays and hen parties and weekends away . It would helpful if there was an option for keeping the target amount private to people donating in some instances eg wedding collections. I don't really like the name Flendr - it reminds me of a cuddly stuffed animal for some reason!

4)Flendr might be able to offer group discounts on certain things. Please tell us what sorts of things you’d be interested in e.g. theatre and cinema tickets or places such Alton Towers, Thorpe Park etc...

I would be interested in discount tickets to Alton towers and the cinema.

1)How easy did you find Flendr to use?

Very easy.

2)How did you find the process of setting up and running a collection?

Fine except like others I was a bit worried about trusting it, and asking others to trust it, so kept it to a small group of people.
3)What did you think of the website? Please tell us what you liked and what improvements you’d make.

I would like a much more detailed section about how safe the money is, and on fees. As far as I can tell, we weren't charged fees, even for Paypal, but I presume that won't continue, so it would have been useful to know (and see very clearly) what fees would be charged and when.

4)Flendr might be able to offer group discounts on certain things. Please tell us what sorts of things you’d be interested in e.g. theatre and cinema tickets or places such Alton Towers, Thorpe Park etc...

Not sure. To be honest most things these days you can find codes for if you look anyway. But what might be useful is a small discount on a large voucher purchase - say 5% discount on John Lewis vouchers if you buy more than £150. Then if you were using it for school collections that would probably offset the fees charged, and I would feel more inclined to ask people to use it.

1)How easy did you find Flendr to use?
seems easy - the collection I thought I'd have didnt happen as our plans changed but I have had a good look round the site.

2)How did you find the process of setting up and running a collection?
Seems easy to set up and quick

3)What did you think of the website? Please tell us what you liked and what improvements you’d make.
It's ok. I dont know what you have against capital letters though!!

4)Flendr might be able to offer group discounts on certain things. Please tell us what sorts of things you’d be interested in e.g. theatre and cinema tickets or places such Alton Towers, Thorpe Park etc...
Yes vouchers would be good, ie: Amazon and group discounts for family things

Tester

1)How easy did you find Flendr to use?
I found it a clean design and simple to use, really quick to get going.

2)How did you find the process of setting up and running a collection?
Straightforward.

3)What did you think of the website? Please tell us what you liked and what improvements you’d make.
I expected to be able to preview the message before sending it, and for it to be easy to add extra people and to send reminders.

In particular, I would like to have been able to preview and edit the content of the email i.e. the introductory message they get by email, before they log into Flendr for the full details.

I copied myself in when I contacted my friends as a test, and the email was really too generic - I doubt I would have responded in case it was spam.

The main drawback is my friends haven't yet sent the money! I texted them all a few days later to explain that it was legit. One responded to say they haven't received the email - I've advised her to check junk/spam. I received my copy so I know it was sent. I'm not clear on how to resend the email to her.

4)Flendr might be able to offer group discounts on certain things. Please tell us what sorts of things you’d be interested in e.g. theatre and cinema tickets or places such Alton Towers, Thorpe Park etc...
Theatre tickets, concerts, cinema

1)How easy did you find Flendr to use?
Didn't actually set up a collection page as I currently don't have anything to collect for, but if I did I think it would be quite straightforward.
2)How did you find the process of setting up and running a collection?
See above.
3)What did you think of the website?
Please tell us what you liked and what improvements you’d make.
Overall good, but I don't like the name at all. It doesn't tell you what service it provides and sounds like the name of a funky new blender...
4)Flendr might be able to offer group discounts on certain things. Please tell us what sorts of things you’d be interested in e.g. theatre and cinema tickets or places such Alton Towers, Thorpe Park etc...
Theatre tickets and theme parks, things you can organise a group event to (can't really roll up to the local multiplex with 20 people in tow)

1)How easy did you find Flendr to use?
I found it very easy to use the website was clear and easy to use
2)How did you find the process of setting up and running a collection?
I think it was quite easy to set up and run my collection found the email great and a easy way to contact everyone
3)What did you think of the website? Please tell us what you liked and what improvements you’d make.
4)Flendr might be able to offer group discounts on certain things. Please tell us what sorts of things you’d be interested in e.g. theatre and cinema tickets or places such Alton Towers, Thorpe Park etc...
Would love discounts and vouchers things like cinema, bowling, meals stuff for families

All in all I would recommend this for collections for events, presents parties etc takes a lot of the hassle and pressure out of things

1)How easy did you find Flendr to use?

I found it easy to use - I have only accessed it using my laptop so I am basing my answers on ease of use on a computer - I am not sure how easy it would be using a phone - perhaps there could be an app which makes it easy to use on a mobile or tablet.

2)How did you find the process of setting up and running a collection?

I set up a dummy collection as I dont have an actual collection to run right now. I found it easy to set up. It was easy to send out links and set up the limits etc. I followed the link which I sent to my junk account and everything worked well so it would be easy to use for someone not familiar as well.

3)What did you think of the website? Please tell us what you liked and what improvements you’d make.

A pp mentioned credit card fees - I didnt see this and like others I think if there are any fees then that should be made really clear from the start. In fact I think any fees should be listed on the homepage with everything being clear and transparent

The website was easy to use and navigate and opened fine on the laptop

I still really dislike the name and think it really does sound like a payday loan company - it doesnt inspire any confidence in the service!

4)Flendr might be able to offer group discounts on certain things. Please tell us what sorts of things you’d be interested in e.g. theatre and cinema tickets or places such Alton Towers, Thorpe Park etc...

I'm not sure what you mean by this - if you mean in order to buy tickets so if we were planning a trip to alton towers and were running the collection through flendr to make sure everyone paid up in advance and then wanted to buy them through flendr at a discount then yes thats a good idea but if your thinking as general perk then that seems pointless there are plenty of other sites out there you can get discounts with.

Things we would be interested in discounts on:

• family days out
• restaurants / pubs / meals
• activity centres e.g. go ape, boulders
• special events at museums
• festivals
• afternoon tea / spa

1)How easy did you find Flendr to use?
Easy to navigate and set up account.
2)How did you find the process of setting up and running a collection?
Easy to set up, but couldn't use the email link sent to my other account to pay in.
3)What did you think of the website? Please tell us what you liked and what improvements you’d make.
Website was fine. What does it mean by promo code?
4)Flendr might be able to offer group discounts on certain things. Please tell us what sorts of things you’d be interested in e.g. theatre and cinema tickets or places such Alton Towers, Thorpe Park etc...
I'm not sure how this would work. Would it be for the person who set up the collection, or would you be able to set up a collection for discounted group entry to places?

1)How easy did you find Flendr to use?
I found it easy to use but we had some problems with the links to donate not working. It took a few attempts, and then just seemed to fall into place. Luckily the people donating were aware it was a trial so persevered.

2)How did you find the process of setting up and running a collection?
Setting it up was pretty straightforward.

3)What did you think of the website? Please tell us what you liked and what improvements you’d make.
May be take a look at how well it works on a smart phone - I think that could be improved. Or maybe an app would be better?

4)Flendr might be able to offer group discounts on certain things. Please tell us what sorts of things you’d be interested in e.g. theatre and cinema tickets or places such Alton Towers, Thorpe Park etc...
The ones you suggest, and maybe meals out (Bella Italia, pizza express, wagamama)? Discounts on vouchers would be good.

So I have just finished my first collection using flendr. As part of my mumsnet antenatal group we have done a lot of collections for when people have had babies etc so I was keen to see if this could make the process any easier than our current system of collecting money via pay pal. In general I was impressed, I liked the fact that you could pay via paypal. However I felt it would be helpful not to have to include all of the different bits of information and it would have been good not to have had to include a target or an end date if we didn't want to.

1)How easy did you find Flendr to use?
It was very easy to use

2)How did you find the process of setting up and running a collection?
It was very straight forward but I felt that not having a manditory end date would have been helpful in our situation.

3)What did you think of the website? Please tell us what you liked and what improvements you’d make.
I like the website I felt that it looked professional and was easy to navigate.

4)Flendr might be able to offer group discounts on certain things. Please tell us what sorts of things you’d be interested in e.g. theatre and cinema tickets or places such Alton Towers, Thorpe Park etc...
The sort of things that I would be more likely to use it for would be gift sites as that is what I would use Flendr to collect for.

1)How easy did you find Flendr to use?
Incredibly - very straightforward to put in your details and get everything up and running via email or posting of link.
2)How did you find the process of setting up and running a collection?
It was easy - however, I did accidentally set up a collection rather than a fundraising collection initially when I meant to do the latter. It was very easy to fix though, and straightforward to delete and start again.
3)What did you think of the website? Please tell us what you liked and what improvements you’d make.
I thought it was fine, not very bright or colourful though, so perhaps more images could be used?
4)Flendr might be able to offer group discounts on certain things. Please tell us what sorts of things you’d be interested in e.g. theatre and cinema tickets or places such Alton Towers, Thorpe Park etc...
I think event tickets are a great idea given that people will potentially be using group collection for such things. Another idea could be wedding/christening/special birthday gift type sites, like notonthehighstreet etc. as that's another reason my group of friends and I would do a group collection for a gift. Set menus/afternoon tea group deals would be another one.