# DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal donations reach £9 million

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2011/07/11/dec-east-africa-crisis-appeal-donations-reach-9-million/
- Published: 2011-07-11T11:38:37+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**The UK public have so far donated £9 million to the DEC appeal, launched three
days ago on 8 July, to help people suffering from severe food shortages in East 
Africa. Text donations have proved a particular popular method of giving.**

Chief Executive of the Disasters Emergency Committee Brendan Gormley said: “The 
UK public have been remarkably generous, despite many having to tighten their belts
here in the UK. We are determined, with the public’s support, to prevent this crisis
from spiralling out of control. I would urge people to keep giving, to help us save
more lives.”

[According to ActionAid](http://www.actionaid.org.uk/102945/news.html), almost £
100,000 was donated by text in one hour on Friday evening after the appeal was launched,
including £9,295 in one minute. The public can donate £5 via their phone bill by
texting CRISIS to 70000. These text donations represented 5% of total donations 
when the total stood at £8 million. ActionAid commented: “This compares to just 
0.1 per cent of donations by text to the Pakistan Floods Appeal”.

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Gormley commented on the success of giving by text, saying: “We have significantly
increased our promotion of ‘text to give’ and it’s now clear that this has allowed
us to reach a whole new generation of supporters.

“The text to give response has been astonishing and does not seem to have diminished
giving by other means. However people give, it’s heartening to see such overwhelming
generosity.”

The DEC East Africa Appeal has been presented on the TV and radio by actor Jason
Isaacs, actor and comedian Lenny Henry, broadcaster and journalist Kate Adie, and
actress Fay Ripley.

www.dec.org.uk

_Photo: © 2011 CARE/Kate Holt_

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