Fundraising campaigns...

The findings of the study point to the need for charities to focus their fundraising efforts on connecting with supporters during w/c 19th December this year, to make the most of the opportunity.

WPNC and goDonate’s analysis - the Online Donations December 2022 report - was produced by collecting anonymised data from the online donation funnels of leading UK charities that used goDonate during December 2021.

It reveals the third week of December accounted for more than a quarter (27%) of donations made during that month. The second week of the month was also key, comprising 24% of December’s donations.

Christmas Eve led the way as the most prominent day for charitable gestures, followed by a steep decline in donations on Christmas Day and throughout the final week of the month for single donations.

Knowing the most popular days of the week and times of day for donations can assist charity campaign planning, whether choosing TV opportunities, sending out door-drops, timing an e-shot or understanding when social media delivers most user engagement.

Other key findings include:

• Single donations tend to increase in the second half of each week, with Friday the most popular day in December; whereas midweek (Wednesday) is the most popular for regular giving donations set-up
• Four out of five one-off and regular donations were made on a weekday, with the remainder made during a weekend
• Average single donation amounts increased from £51.97 throughout 2021 to £57.90 in December specifically
• Average regular giving set-up amounts also increased, from £9.41 during the whole of 2021 to £11.38 in December

WPNC Digital Director Phil Dearson commented: “The final week before Christmas is set to be crucial for charities’ efforts to drive donations with fundraising campaigns, both on- and offline.

“We expect w/c 19th December to be a popular period for donors for several reasons. First, anyone distracted by the World Cup - which ends on Sunday 18th December - will finally turn their attention to how they’ll spend money this Christmas. In addition, we think many consumers have left spending decisions to the last minute as they seek to understand what they can afford as a result of the cost of living crisis.”

Vicky Reeves, Managing Director WPNC Digital & goDonate, added: “Our in-depth analysis of donations data from last Christmas provides invaluable insights for fundraisers seeking to make the most of the festive period in 2022.

“The level of granularity we’ve been able to provide will give organisations food for thought as they strive to boost revenue right up until 25th December, in what has undoubtedly been a tricky 12 months for the sector.”