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Atheist bus campaign smashes fundraising target 20-fold 3

Fundraising | 5 Nov 2008

An online fundraising campaign by atheists to pay for an advert on London buses has raised 20 times more than expected and has become donation website Justgiving's fastest success.

The Atheist Bus Campaign (pictured), dreamed up by journalist Adrianne Sherine, hoped to raise £5,500 to put the slogan ‘There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life' on 30 buses for a month.

Professor Richard Dawkins, bestselling author of The God Delusion, supported the campaign and agreed to match all donations up to a maximum of £5,500.

Snowball effect

But media coverage prompted an incredible snowball effect and the total was reached in just ten hours.

Money has continued to pour in from the UK and across the world, including New Zealand, Australia, America, Spain, and the total on the website currently stands at more than £112,500 - a figure that does not include Dawkins' contribution or gift aid.

Individual donations have ranged from £2, the smallest donation possible, to £2,000 from donor Simon Bishop who took the total past £100,000 with the message: ‘Goodbye savings'.

The British Humanist Association is administering all donations.

Billboards and trains

Following the success of the campaign Sherine wrote in a blog: "While everyone on the campaign team is elated at the amount raised, we genuinely never expected the campaign to skyrocket like this, and had only planned to use any extra money to buy small ads inside buses.

"We're hoping to run the campaign throughout the UK, but outside London we may have to think about using billboards and trains instead of buses, since the company Stagecoach runs many regional bus services and may not accept our adverts as its owner, Brian Souter, is an evangelical Christian.

"Whatever happens, every penny of the total is going directly towards the atheist adverts."

Justgiving record broken

Jonathan Waddingham, of Justgiving, said: "The success has been phenomenal. The site has beaten all records for the fastest number of donations. More than £72,000 was donated in less than 48 hours by 4,500 people."

The atheist bus will run in Westminster in January.

Earlier this year political blogger Jon Worth attempted to raise £23,400 through online pledges for a similar bus campaign, but after a month only 877 people had signed up to give £5, far short of the 4,678 people needed.

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Directory: JustGiving