2020 sparks increase in online giving among Swiss & German donors

2020 saw both one-off and regular online giving increase in Switzerland and Germany compared to the previous year, according to a report on digital fundraising by Getunik.

The State of Digital Fundraising 2020 looks at online donations made via RaiseNow in Switzerland and Altruja in Germany, which merged in July last year.

Getunik’s report shows that in Switzerland, online RaiseNow saw the number of one-off gifts rise by 73%, and regular donations by 44%, with revenue from each rising by 66% and 39% respectively year on year.

In comparison, Germany ‘s Altruja saw lower but still significant increases, at 41% more one-off donations. Revenue for these donations rose by the same percentage increase in revenue, while the volume of regular donations rose by 32%, and their revenue by 43%.

Donation size

82% of all online donations given through RaiseNow in Switzerland were €90.5 (CHF 100) or less, while those above that accounted for almost two-thirds of revenue, but only 18% of donations.

Similarly, in Germany, 85% donated via Altruja were €100 or less. Again however, those above €100 generated the majority of revenue, accounting for 65%.

Payment methods

Payment app Twint was the most popular online payment method in Switzerland, followed by PayPal, with 257% more donations made via Twint in 2020 compared to 2019, and 222% more by PayPal. In Germany, PayPal and SOFORTÜberweisung gained in popularity compared to last year, with 64% more transactions made via PayPal and 61% more via SOFORTÜberweisung.

Popular donation times

Getunik’s study also looked at when people donated via the platforms, and found that in 2020, Swiss donors mainly gave on Wednesday and Friday mornings, while in Germany, Monday mornings were most popular, compared to Monday evenings in 2019.

As elsewhere, donations generally rise towards the end of the year, and 2020 was no different with around 28% of the year’s online donations being made between 15 November and 31 December in Switzerland, and around 55% in Germany. A significant percentage of annual income arrived just in the days between Christmas and New Year (5% in Switzerland, and 7% in Germany).

Increases seen across the board

Overall, increases were across the board in both countries, with smaller charities seeing the largest percentage growth in both transactions and revenue.

Charities in the development and disaster aid category generated the most income in Switzerland, attracting higher amounts overall compared to other causes, while in Germany charities working in the social aid and human rights category saw the strongest increase in income from donations, as well as donation volume.

Commenting on the report’s findings, Roger Tinner from Swissfundraising noted:

“These results are remarkable even though digital donations will remain clearly in the single-digit percentage range of total donations in Switzerland in 2020.”

Image by Joshua Woroniecki from Pixabay