55% of DEC Syria Crisis appeal income comes in online

Howard Lake | 12 April 2013 | News

More than half of the money given so far to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s (DEC) Syria Crisis Appeal has come via digital sources. This is the first time this has happened in a DEC appeal.

Of the money given directly to the DEC by the public 55% was donated digitally, including 12% donated via phones or tablets.

Online giving statistics for DEC Syria Crisis appeal

Of the money given directly to the DEC appeal:

·         37% was given with debit and credit cards via the BT MyDonate platform (provided by BT on a pro bono basis), with card providers waiving all transaction charges.

·         12% was given via PayPal either using a new mobile donations platform produced by Home Made Digital with funding support from PayPal, or via the main DEC website.

·         4% was given via SMS using a system provided by Open Market for which all network providers waive charges.

·         2% was given via other online platforms including Just Giving and Virgin Money Giving.

PayPal has also supported the DEC Syria Crisis by emailing 8.5 million service users encouraging them to donate to the appeal.

The appeal has seen a significant shift in the volume of visits to the DEC website coming from mobile devices: 27.8% of visits are from mobile devices, up from 7.6% for the East Africa Crisis Appeal in 2011.

More of the mobile traffic now comes from tablets than phones, with Apple devices and IoS being the most popular.

Appeal total passes £10m

The appeal total has now passed £10.3 million. This includes funds raised by member agencies as part of the appeal together with money from trusts, and an estimated figure for Gift Aid income. So the percentages above can not be applied to this figure.

Disasters Emergency Committee Interim Head of Fundraising Helen Calder said: “The support received so far for the appeal has been fantastic and we are particularly pleased with the very impressive level of giving via our various digital platforms. The new partnership with PayPal has made it easier than ever for many people to give online and particularly via mobile devices.”

Other methods of giving

Traditional methods of giving continue to account for substantial proportions of the total, with 28% of donations being made by post. The Royal Mail provides a pro bono service for the DEC appeals.

Telephone donations account for 16% of all donations received. Donations are made using an automated platform provided by Spoke, with all transaction charges waived by card providers.

www.dec.org.uk/appeals/syria-crisis-appeal

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.