Online fundraising platform DONATE saw a five-fold increase in donations for good causes amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Latest figures from the platform show that in 2020 it raised a total of £1.2m, five times as much as the £214,000 it raised the previous year.

DONATE founder and trustee William Makower said that the move to virtual findraising by many charities due to the health crisis has proved popular with charity supporters.

“The impact of coronavirus on the charity sector has been profound with many charities seeing major shortfalls in income due to a lack of fundraising events.

“As a result, digital fundraising platforms, like DONATE, have become more popular than ever as charities look for innovative ways to support themselves, whether its text raffles, online auctions or text giving promoted through virtual events."

The dramatic increase in online fundraising during the pandemic was also revealed earlier this year in latest figures from the platform JustGiving.

Since the first lockdown in March 2020 JustGiving saw more than 18,000 pages created to combat the impact of the pandemic and raised £180m to support communities impacted by Covid-19.

Donate is the operating name of the National Funding Scheme.

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