One-off donations through one platform increased by more than 500% in lockdown

21 Aug 2020 News

One-off online donations swelled by 561% in the three months to 30 June 2020, compared to the same period of 2019, via WPNC’s goDonate platform.

Donations were to organisations such as NSPCC, Prostate Cancer UK, Stroke Association, The Firefighters Charity and Battersea.

Sam Thompson, fundraising manager at NSPCC, said: “We are living through unprecedented times with many of us facing uncertainty and financial difficulties as the knock-on effects of coronavirus start to bite. Charities like the NSPCC are no exception to this.

“We are therefore extremely grateful to anyone that takes the time to make a donation to us and hope our widening range of digital platforms is making this easier to do. People’s continued generosity is enabling us to be still there for children and ensure they have help and support should they have suffered emotional or physical harm during the lockdown or before coronavirus emerged.”

The platform also saw a 112% rise in regular donation income during lockdown in comparison to the same three-month period last year. The volume of online regular donations rose by 72%. 

Each of the charities using goDonate saw an increase in the volume of single donations, ranging from 31% to 845%. 

Gifts made via ApplePay grew from 2% to 9% of total donations for clients that have this option in place.

Vicky Reeves, managing director digital at WPNC, said: “Our analysis shows that rather than tightening their belts when it comes to supporting good causes - as might have been assumed - the UK public is being more generous and also committing to long-term regular giving since lockdown began. We would have naturally expected to see some growth in digital donations but these results are exceptional.

“Many of our charity clients responded quickly to the crisis with successful emergency TV and digital campaigns, finding innovative ways to reach potential supporters with relevant information about their cause at this time. Having engaging, intuitive and robust online donation experiences leaves them well placed to raise much-needed funds, particularly when other channels such as face-to-face giving and events have not been possible.”

The sample size is based on directly comparable data, in this case for 17 charities. 

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