1 December the best day for festive donations in 2023
Melanie May | 21 November 2024 | News
1 December was the best day for festive giving last year, according to Enthuse’s latest insights into Christmas fundraising trends, accounting for nearly 5% of the month’s total giving and above the 3.2% daily average for December.
The share of donations for the best performing day (4.9%) was the same as in 2022, which Enthuse suggests indicates that festive giving has become more evenly spread since the widespread adoption of hybrid working during the pandemic. In 2019, the best performing day took 7% of the month’s donations.
Busiest days for festive donations (volume) in 2023:
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- 1 December (4.9%)
- 30 November (4.8%)
- 5 December (4.7%)
- 7 December (4.5%)
- 22 December (4.4%)
However, while the Christmas Giving Insights report shows that, based on Enthuse’s data, 1 December was the best day in terms of volume, 21 December was the highest value donation day by income.
Most popular days of the week and times
Over the 2023 Christmas giving season, Friday was the most popular day for donations, with on average, 3.8% of the season’s festive donations. However, this was only just ahead of Thursday at 3.7% and Tuesday and Wednesday (3.6%). Weekends were the quietest: Saturday and Sunday both averaged 2.7%, despite 23 December and Christmas Eve falling across the weekend.
Week-wise, while in 2022 week 4 was the best for donations at 4%, in 2023 it was Week 1, tying in with the best performing donations day landing on 1 December. By Week 5 Christmas giving, as in previous years, had dropped: in 2023 to less than half of Week 1 at 1.8%.
Enthuse also looked at time of day, with 10am – 1pm once again the top slot for donations. 11am reclaimed first place with 7.7% of the day’s donations on average. 12pm (7.4%) picked up second spot, ahead of 10am at 7.3%. 2pm – 5pm is also still a popular time for donating, with between 6.5% and 6.7% of the day’s donations made then. At 9pm, it drops to 5.2%.
Commenting on the data, Chester Mojay-Sinclare, Enthuse Founder and CEO, said:
“When it comes to the festive giving season, charities can start their Christmas appeals in late November confident that plenty of people will donate to their cause early on. December 1st was the most popular giving day last year and 30th November came in at number two, fashioning a place for itself as ‘Christmas Giving Eve’. Focusing efforts close to the typical November and December paydays could prove fruitful for charities.
“Charities should also be aware that the larger donation amounts may come closer to Christmas itself after presents have been bought and people are in the festive spirit. As ever, timing is crucial for Christmas campaigns and targeting the right days of the week and hours of the day could help charities maximise their festive season.
Giving Tuesday not a best performing day
Giving Tuesday 2023 got 4.4% of donations for the festive giving season so wasn’t the best performing day in its week (1 December: 4.9%, and 30 November: 4.8%). Neither was it the best performing Tuesday of the month, with 5 December doing better with 4.7% of the season’s donations.
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.