A new donation service has launched which allows people to donate small amounts to charity from their mobile phone plan.

The One Cent Call (OCC) microdonation platform is available to UK pay-as-you-go and contract customers on Vodafone, T-Mobile O2 and Virgin Mobile, who can chose to donate between 50p and £3 per month to their chosen charity. Smartphone users can sign up and manage their donations via a mobile app and non-smartphone users can register online.

So far just over 70 charities have signed up to receive donations through the service and include WWF, Temwa UK and Grassroots Suicide Prevention. It is free for charities to register and they will receive a minimum of 85 per cent of the amount raised.

The Small Charities Coalition is supporting the platform. Operations manager John Barrett said: “At a time when small charities are struggling to raise funds, One Cent Call is offering an exciting, new and simple way to attract more donations from a wider donor base.”

Liz Lankester, charity manager at OCC said: “We wanted to develop a way to fundraise that requires little effort and is open to all ages. The low donation limits mean young people and those on with limited incomes can get involved in doing social good.”