JustGiving has announced that £550m was raised for almost 20,000 charities through its pages during 2023, a record sum for the online fundraising platform.

Last year more than 950,000 fundraising pages were set up, which is 2,600 pages a day on average. This is up 9% on the previous year.

Over the year there were two million more donations made to charity compared to 2022. Around 3.5m donated to a good cause more than once.

The busiest month for giving on the platform was April, when the London Marathon was staged.

Friday is the most popular day to donate, latest figures from JustGiving have revealed.

The most popular fundraising activities are running, walking, cycling and swimming.

“The enormous generosity from people across the world has made this a record-breaking year for giving, with more than 18 million donations to almost 20,000 UK charities, said JustGiving president and general manager Pascale Harvie.

“Despite it being a very difficult year for so many people, I have consistently been amazed by the incredible lengths that individuals have gone to, in order to raise funds and awareness for the causes closest to them.

“To every single person that has supported a good cause this year, on behalf of all of our charity partners, thank you.”

Gaming for Good

Online streaming among gamers on Youtube, TikTok and Twitch is emerging as an increasingly popular way of fundraising, the figures for 2023 also show.

It is ranked as the 15th most popular fundraising activity, just below Movember in 14th spot.

Meanwhile, charitable skydiving challenges increased by 40% and collectively raised almost £5.5m.

The biggest increase in popularity is for skipping challenges. There were almost three times as many sponspored skips in 2023 than the previous year, raising almost £230,000.

Coffee morning fundraisers more than doubled and rose £2m last year.

Among more unusual fundraisers to emerge in 2023 was sponsored growing of mullet hairstyles. JustGiving found that 13% more individuals grew a mullet for charity in 2023 compared to the previous year.

Elsewhere, more than 3,600 people shaved their hair off for good causes.

The most generous areas are Norwich, Bristol Reading and Cambridge. In Norwich a fifth of its residents donated on JustGiving in 2023.

The top five types of charity people donated to in 2023 were those involved in cancer care, children, mental health, humanitarian aid and fighting poverty.

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