Year-end online giving strong

January 26, 2009

Despite the pressures of the economic recession, online donations were strong as 2008 drew to a close, a charitable website says.

The number of donations made in December 2008 jumped by almost half over December 2007 to reach 157,414, and the total amount hit $25.1 million, up 23 percent, says Network for Good, which processes online donations for charities.

The dramatic increase in the number of givers helped offset a drop in the average donation amount.

Part of that growth is due to an increase in giving charitable donations as holiday gifts.

Processing volume for Network for Good averaged $800,000 a day during December 2008, with the last day of the year bringing in $5 million in online donations, the group says.

The strong year-end showing pushed the group's online donation processing to $71 million for 2008, up 30 percent from 2007.

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