60m direct debit donations made to charity in 2014
Howard Lake | 2 April 2015 | News
Last year 60 million donations were made to charity via Direct Debit, two million more than the previous year, according to Bacs Payment Schemes Limited (Bacs), the people behind Direct Debit in the UK.
This increase was worth an extra £48 million for charities, a 4.1% increase over the previous year. Direct debit donations last year were worth over £1.2 billion.
The number of Direct Debits made out to charities has increased by six million (11%) since 2011.
Which charities have benefited?
The types of causes that benefited from the largest increases in the number of Direct Debit donations during 2014 were:
• environment: 7.1% (worth 5% increase in value)
• animal 5.6% (worth 6.2% increase in value)
Causes that benefited by the largest increase in the value of Direct Debit donations were:
• housing (9.6%)
• old age (9.4%)
Bacs’ charity sector specialist, Graham Callaghan, welcomed the increased popularity of giving regularly by Direct Debit.
He said:
“We know that automated payments are cost-effective for charities, as they are cheaper to process than the likes of cash and cheques, while they are also easy and convenient for those donating. Converting supporters to Direct Debit also increases retention rates, impacting on long term collection levels.”
Advertisement
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.