31 October 2005

For the first time ever, online donations are now equal to those made by phone, reveals the Disasters and Emergency Committee (DEC).

The DEC's Asia Earthquake Appeal has now hit the £25 million mark and online giving has played a major role in reaching this target, according to reports on Netimperative.com.

The swing towards more online charity giving seems to be a very recent phenomenon.

During the August Niger Appeal, double the number of people gave via the telephone rather than the web.

"It is fascinating that in the space of three months since the last appeal, that there has been such a change in the behaviour of donors," commented the DEC's chief executive, Brendan Gormley to NetImperative.

The efforts of the DEC to encourage online giving have been helped by companies running banner adverts for free on their websites.

The DEC acts as an umbrella organisation, co-ordinating the interests of the leading aid agencies.

© Adfero Ltd

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