January 7, 2010 | Read Time: 1 minute
The Internet continues to be a bright spot in a fund-raising landscape still bruised by the recession.
In 2009 Network for Good, an online charity portal, processed $112.7-million in donations, up from $71.2-million the previous year, an increase of 58 percent. It was the first year in the organization’s history that it processed more than $100-million in contributions.
The Bethesda, Md., charity attributes the growth to special campaigns, such as America’s Giving Challenge and GiveNM.org’s Give to the Max Day, as well as social-networking sites, such as Causes on Facebook, all of which were processed through Network for Good. Small and medium-sized groups also increased their use of online fund raising last year, the organization says.
The average size of donations made through the site in 2009 was $92, down from $112 in 2008, a decrease of 22 percent. But the number of gifts made through the site increased 92 percent.
Nonprofit groups that use Network for Good’s DonateNow pages, a service that tends to attract small and medium-sized charities, saw the average size of their Internet gifts drop from $137 in 2008 to $118 in 2009, a decrease of 14 percent. But the number of donations made through their pages increased by 52 percent.
