The Disasters Emergency Committee has raised more than £1m in text donations, five times more than its past record, to bring the total for its East Africa Crisis appeal to over £42m.

The announcement of the running total yesterday came after three weeks of fundraising for the drought affected countries in the Horn of Africa. The United Nations estimates that just under $2.5bn is needed to address the burgeoning famine in the region.

In rallying funds, SMS has taken off for the DEC this year raising £1.25m with gift aid. Polly Gilchrist, fundraising manager at the organisation, said: “We are delighted to have shown that there is a new audience out there that want a quick and easy way to make donations in a way that is relevant to them. Asking people to use their mobiles has paid dividends.

‘This lays to rest scepticism about whether texting works as a method of giving funds.”
 
Nearly two thirds of SMS donors have provided details to make their donations gift aidable.