With the festive season upon us, and Giving Tuesday taking place on 3rd December, it’s a time of year when generosity of spirit is highlighted. This global movement encourages everyone to give in whatever way they can, be that by sharing skills, donating goods, volunteering their time or by making a financial gift, to give a few examples. This day of action was created in 2012 and has spread to many countries around the world. It’s an important date in the charity fundraising calendar and illustrates both how fundraising has evolved and how technical innovation is enabling charitable giving in the digital age.
A charity box at a shop till point used to be a common sight, inviting donations of ‘loose change’. The reduction in the use of cash has therefore affected charities. Innovative technology, however, now provides a whole new way to ‘tap and go’ with charitable gifting. This has lead to the fast-emerging sector of micro-donations, which you might already have encountered online or at a till point. This concept can involve an option to round-up to the next pound, or a modest fixed amount. The Pennies Foundation has been a fintech leader in this field, partnering with high street and online retailers to enable customers to make micro-donations. Their data shows almost half of people surveyed had used micro-donations this year. To date, Pennies has enabled over 230 million micro-donations and raised over £55 million for more than 1,000 charities in the UK, Republic of Ireland and beyond. It’s a new source of income for many charities, and one which your Christmas gift shopping might support.
Also timed to coincide with Giving Tuesday, the Big Give runs its Christmas Challenge in the UK. The Big Give is a charity with an online platform, which brings together donors and enables them to find and support charities. It has the financial backing of a number of larger donors and funders who match donations made by the public during a campaign week running from 3rd to 10th December. In this way, your donation is doubled. Their online platform has a search function, which enables you to select from different categories to find a charity of interest to you. Collaborative philanthropy initiatives such as this enable donors to easily co-ordinate their giving, without extra work. Gift Aid is also part of the Big Give platform and enables qualifying UK donors to claim tax relief too, whilst also topping-up the donation to the charity. Gift Aid is a valuable part of the UK tax system that benefits charities and their donors, to the tune of £1.6 billion according to HMRC figures from 2023/24.
The success of these digital philanthropy options comes from the combination of the simple steps involved for donors and sheer volume of the modest amounts committed. On Giving Tuesday, 3rd December, remember that philanthropy is for everyone, whatever your starting point might be.
This article is not tax advice. Tax relief depends on your personal circumstances.
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