# 2016 biggest year yet for charitable donations through PayPal

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/01/17/2016-biggest-year-yet-charitable-donations-paypal/
- Published: 2017-01-17T08:42:41+00:00
- Author: Melanie May

**Eight million people in 181 countries gave via [PayPal](https://www.paypal.com/uk/home)
over the festive season, according to its [2016 Holiday Giving Tracker](https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/social-innovation/powering-giving/2016-holiday-giving-tracker).
They gave over $971m to 282,053 charities from November 27^(th) to the New Year.**

The tracker reveals that overall, 10,380,382 gifts were given during this period,
ranging from $0.01, to $231,937, with an average gift amount of $93: slightly above
the year-long average of $89. The largest gift given in the UK was $69,755, while
the biggest average gifts came from Moldova ($439) and Seychelles ($371).

The US gave the most overall at $791,996,623, followed by Canada at $48,779,913,
and in third place the UK, which gave $46,630,244. The US also saw the most people
give: 5,274,187 individuals, followed by the UK at 1,071,781, and Canada at 401,316.

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Mobile giving rose on the previous year, with 21% of gifts made via mobile devices:
up 12% on 2015. The biggest givers by mobile transactions were Tonga, where 48% 
of its donations were given by mobile, Papua New Guinea (43%), and Fiji (41%). The
UK was the only European country in the top 10 for this category, with 39% of its
transactions carried out via mobile.

The biggest day for giving was 31^(st) December, which saw more donations processed
than on any other day in 2016 with $77 million contributed to thousands of charities
globally.

Franz Paasche, SVP Corporate Affairs & Communications, PayPal said:

> “In 2016, our customers’ generosity resulted in double-digit percent increases
> in charitable giving on the PayPal platform. During the course of the year, our
> customers made $7.3 billion in contributions, including over $971 million given
> during the holiday season alone. We are so thankful for the continued generosity
> of PayPal users in 2016, and look forward to another year of making a difference.”

 * **[PayPal users donate $1 billion over the holiday season](https://fundraising.co.uk/2018/01/12/paypal-users-donate-1-billion-holiday-season/)**(
   12 January 2018)
 * **[Donations over festive gifts the preference for over half of Brits this Christmas](https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/12/11/donations-over-festive-gifts-the-preference-for-over-half-of-brits-this-christmas/)**(
   11 December 2019)
 * **[PayPal study reveals insights into pandemic’s influence on giving & generosity this Christmas](https://fundraising.co.uk/2021/11/18/paypal-study-reveals-insights-into-pandemics-influence-on-giving-generosity-this-christmas/)**(
   18 November 2021)

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