# Nearly half of UK consumers now familiar with micro-donations - Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2024/10/17/nearly-half-of-uk-consumers-now-familiar-with-micro-donations/ - Published: 2024-10-17T10:02:09+01:00 - Author: Melanie May **Nearly half (42%) of UK consumers are now familiar with micro-donations, up from 35% in both 2023 and 2022, according to a survey by Pennies, and a similar percentage say they would feel better about a business if it offered this way of giving.** [Pennies](https://pennies.org.uk/) surveyed 2,000 UK consumers through Sapio Research last month. It found that dropping cash into a box was still the most common way respondents had given to charity in the previous 12 months (41% of respondents), but that donating online / via an app / by direct debit was almost as popular at 40% of respondents, up from 24% in 2023. #### Third most preferred way of giving Over half of respondents said they prefer to donate to charity via cash (56%) while 1 in 4 (25%) prefer donating via direct debit / standing order. Rounding up an order( micro-donating) is the third most preferred way to give (16%). ## Advertisement [⌊Posthub advert. You create the campaign. We'll handle the postal journey. Get started at post-hub.co.uk.⌉](https://fundraising.co.uk/ads/posthub-20261007-300x250/) Almost half (44%) of respondents said their perception of a business would improve if they offered micro-donations, of which 21% would be more likely to purchase from there. Nearly half (48%) of respondents also said that they would be more likely to micro- donate after being told that if every UK cardholder gave just 35p a week to charity, it could raise an additional £1 billion for charities every year. #### Micro-donating in-store most popular Of those that have micro-donated, almost 3 in 4 (72%) have done so in-store, whilst 41% have micro-donated when purchasing food or drink. Online / app / direct debit has significantly increased to 40%, compared to 24% in 2023. The survey also found that the most popular charities to support through micro-donations are those with a personal connection to the donor or family/friends (favoured by 40%), followed by national charities (30%), local charities (29%), well known charities( 19%), and emergency appeals (13%). Increased personal, energy and household costs were the most common reason (56%) cited by those who said they don’t donate to charities. Pennies CEO Alison Hutchinson CBE said: > “With the increased cost of living in recent years, it is not surprising that > many consumers are feeling the pinch, but this also serves to highlight the importance > and potential impact of micro-donations, where giving a few pence when paying > for a purchase by card or digital wallet can make a huge difference to charities. > It is pleasing to see steady momentum in the proportion of consumers who make > micro-donations, which increased to 46% this year.” To date, Pennies has enabled over 230 million micro-donations and raised over £55 million for more than 1,000 charities. * **[Microdonations – more than just pocket money?](https://fundraising.co.uk/2010/09/17/microdonations-more-just-pocket-money/)**( 17 September 2010) * **[Council's payslip pennies pass the £100,000 mark](https://fundraising.co.uk/2010/12/14/council039s-payslip-pennies-pass-100000-mark/)**( 14 December 2010) * **[Kate Garraway is ambassador for CARE's lendwithcare.org](https://fundraising.co.uk/2011/01/03/kate-garraway-ambassador-care039s-lendwithcareorg/)**( 3 January 2011)