Midweek in December & final fortnight best times for Christmas giving, research finds
Melanie May | 3 November 2022 | News
Christmas Eve has been the best day for donations during the festive season for the last three years, according to research from Enthuse, with Tuesday to Thursday generally the best time in the week.
Enthuse’s Christmas Giving Insights report reveals that, according to the company’s data, donations on last year’s Christmas Eve (at 5.5% of December donations) were 53% higher than an average day in December (3.2%). The percentage of donations given last Christmas Eve was also up on 2020, but down on pre-pandemic levels of 2019, when 7% of all December donations were made on the day.
The next best day overall in 2021 was 21 December with 5.1% of donations given on this day. Disregarding the success of Christmas Eve – which was on Friday last year –Thursday (3.7%) was the best day of the week for donations last December, closely followed by Tuesday and Wednesday. Weekends and Mondays saw much lower donations rates at 2.4% on Saturday, 2.5% on Sunday, and 2.8% on Monday. This year however, Christmas Eve falls on a Saturday, which Enthuse predicts will either lead to a bumper Saturday or a strong showing for 23 December.
Advertisement
In terms of weeks, weeks three and four were the top performers in 2021 while week five saw a significant drop off from week four, halving from 3.8% to 1.9%.
For the second year running, 10am – 1pm came out as the best time slot for December donations, with 11am the best for festive donations in 2021. 11am had an average of 7.9% of daily donations, sandwiched by 7% at both 10am and noon. Before 8am and after 8pm saw diminishing returns for donations.
Chester Mojay-Sinclare, Enthuse Founder and CEO, said:
“We’re seeing donation patterns emerge in the past couple of years that should help charities plan their Christmas fundraising campaigns with a good degree of certainty. Working patterns have settled since the outbreak of Covid and people’s giving habits have adapted. The challenge for charities will not necessarily be which time periods to prioritise but how they spread their budget across those days and hours.
“The cost of living crisis will of course impact Christmas giving in 2022 which is why maximising digital fundraising efforts will be so important. Ensuring your charity gets the right message, to the right people, at the right time will have a real impact on your festive fundraising.”
Donations on Giving Tuesday are also examined in the report. Enthuse found that while 2021 was a successful year in the US, Giving Tuesday did less well here, despite, Enthuse says, falling on the last month, which would have been payday for many.. In 2021, Giving Tuesday accumulated 3.9% of the Christmas giving period donations – a drop from 4.2% in 2020.
Related posts
Sue Ryder's Lights of Love campaign shares memories of loved ones at Christmas
NSPCC's Letter from Santa raises £1.82m
Volunteering & giving rates steady but still lower than in 2013/14, reports Community Life Survey
PayPal study reveals insights into pandemic’s influence on giving & generosity this Christmas
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.