Virgin Money Giving raises over £21m in its first year
Howard Lake | 14 October 2010 | News
Online giving site Virgin Money Giving has generated over £21 million for charities in its first 12 months. With 87% of donations being given using Gift Aid, the total received by charities is £25 million.
Virgin Money Giving used its first anniversary today to extol the value of digital giving: it cuts administration costs, improves Gift Aid uptake and “is more convenient and easier to use for charities and fundraisers”.
The company entered the market by contrasting its not-for-profit model and fees with those of other existing and long-established services like Justgiving and Bmycharity. It claims that its 2% fee “to cover costs” means that it has been able “to channel £1 million more to charities” during its first year than if the cash had been donated through other online donation services.
The company states that for every £10 donated on Virgin Money Giving, £12.47 is received by the charity, assuming Gift Aid donors are UK taxpayers. It charges charities £100 + VAT to register.
It also reported that it had been particularly successful in securing Gift Aid declarations on small gifts of less than £5. According to thinktank ResPublica’s recent research, 80% of charities fail to chase up Gift Aid on these small sums. Yet more than 82% of donations of £5 or less handled by Virgin Money Giving were boosted by Gift Aid.
Virgin Money Giving currently has over 2,400 charities registered and 40,000 fundraisers taking part in a range of activities, from the Virgin London Marathon to a team of fundraisers driving a fire engine across the globe.
www.virginmoneygiving.com
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.