22 December sees peak of online donations via JustGiving
Howard Lake | 15 December 2011 | News
Britons are most likely to donate online to charity over the Christmas period on 22 December – at 13.08 to be precise; and they are most generous on 28 December. Online donation service JustGiving has analysed donations made via its site over the festive period of the past 10 years.
The week running up to Christmas sees the highest number of online donations (as opposed to money raised via sponsored fundraising activities) of the year. The average amount given during the Christmas period is £116.
Not surprisingly the volume of donations drops during Christmas week. However, the average donation increases considerably at this time, peaking at £260 on 28 December.
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International charities fare best
Over the past 10 years it is international charities who have received most in terms of the value of online donations over the festive period. This figure was boosted by the huge number of donations made in December 2004 following the South Asian tsunami. In addition, charities that support social services and hospices also prove popular amongst those giving via the site.
JustGiving’s research helped confirm that many smaller charities do not do so well in terms of donations via the site. For this reason JustGiving recently launched its SpreadtheGiving campaign.
Most donors will retain level of giving
Separate research among JustGiving’s users has found that 82% say they expect to give the same or more to charity this December as they did in 2010. Of those surveyed, 36% said that they were giving because of the impact of the current financial difficulties. Many (56%) said that they would prefer a friend or a family member to make a donation to a charity in their honour than giving them a gift that they would not use.
Anne-Marie Huby, MD at JustGiving, said: “It is uplifting to see our community continue to give despite difficult times. We want to make sure this generosity of spirit benefits all the charities that use JustGiving, small or large. Spreadthegiving is designed to make every donation go further, by enabling people to raise awareness of little-known causes very easily, and inspire others to donate too.”
The survey was based on December donations made via JustGiving from 2002 to 2010 and on 865 responses to a user survey.
JustGiving have summarised their findings in an infographic.
www.justgiving.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.