The National Trust’s £1.2m appeal to buy less than a mile of coastline in Kent has hit its target in less than five months, with a daily donation average of £9,000.

The charity today announced it has reached the target with the help of 16,000 donors in 133 days, just over four months after its June launch The appeal - which involved social media, celebrity endorsements and poets in residence – was to buy a 0.8 mile stretch of the famed White Cliffs which connects two other stretches of land already owned by the National Trust, and which will now combine to create a 7km uninterrupted sliver of Kentish coast owned by the heritage organisation.

Aided by a significant donation by the Dover Harbour Board, the campaign has wound up ahead of deadline. National Trust reports that the average donation from its donors was £40.21, including gift aid, hundreds of whom left messages on a ‘virtual white cliffs’ microsite (detail pictured) within the charity’s website. People left both personal messages, and messages of support for the Trust’s work in preserving British heritage more broadly online.

Fiona Reynolds, outgoing director-general at the Trust, said: “Thanks to the generosity and support of thousands of people we’ve reached our target nearly two  months early.

“We’ve tapped into something unique – the emotional connection that people have with special places such as the White Cliffs of Dover.”

A volunteer quoted by the Trust said that there had been a “buzz” around the appeal, which had emphasised that the opportunity to buy the property was a once-in-a-generation offer.