Howard Lake | 3 July 2013 | News

Online giving service Virgin Money Giving has now raised over £201 million (including Gift Aid) for charities since it was established in 2009.

In 2012 £72 million including Gift Aid was donated via the site, an increase of 25% on 2011.

Set up as a not-for-profit service by Virgin Money, the service noted that this meant that, at this milestone, "an extra £6 million has been delivered to charities compared to its main competitor", a reference to the for-profit JustGiving service. Virgin Money Giving charges 2% on donations to cover its costs and invest in future developments.

Virgin Money London Marathon

Virgin Money Giving is the official online fundraising partner of the Virgin Money London Marathon, the largest one day annual fundraising event in the world. Donations generated via this event have so far reached a record-breaking £18.3 million (including Gift Aid).

Sir Tom Shebbeare, Chairman of Virgin Money Giving said: "Online giving currently accounts for only a small proportion of personal giving in the UK, but it is growing rapidly, despite pressure on overall consumer giving levels. While research shows charitable giving falling 20% year-on-year, we have recorded an increase of 25% in 2012. For a newcomer to the sector to have already raised £200 million is significant."

Jo Barnett, Executive Director at Virgin Money Giving, commented that Virgin Money Giving now had over 6,500 charities using the service. She added that the site handles over 15 million website visitors a year.

Early years losses

According to Virgin Money Giving's annual report and accounts, it made a pre-tax loss of £419,000 in 2012, an improvement on its loss of over £1 million in 2011. These losses have been absorbed by Virgin Money Holdings (UK) Limited. The company explains that these losses are a result of the fee of 2% being based on Virgin Money Giving’s view of costs when the site is operating at greater scale.

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.