September 9, 1999 | Read Time: 1 minute
The American Red Cross has seen on-line donations soar during the past year.
The organization estimates that it received $2.5-million in Internet contributions from July 1998 through June 1999. Only $172,000 was collected on line during the same period the previous year.
The American Red Cross says one reason for the growth is that people are growing more comfortable using the Internet to make financial transactions. In addition, it says, donors like being able to send donations instantaneously after disasters strike. In April, at the height of the Kosovo crisis, the charity’s site brought in $1.2-million.
The trend has continued as donors respond to the earthquake that devastated Turkey last month. In the first four days after the quake, donations made through the American Red Cross’s Web site totaled more than $400,000.
On August 20, three days after the earthquake, the American Red Cross received $138,508 in on-line donations, the most money the group has ever collected through its site in one day. The charity’s previous one-day record for on-line donations was $115,147 on April 7, during the Kosovo crisis.
To get there: Go to http://www.redcross.org.
