Charitable Giving Surpassed $971M During Holidays

Thanks in part to the convenience of mobile pay, charitable giving during the holidays surpassed $971 million in 2016, according to PayPal.

According to a report, which cited data from PayPal’s interactive tracker, the payment company’s online giving platform, in 2016, PayPal said it processed $7.3 billion in contributions, which marks an 11 percent increase in donations to charities. PayPal also found that 8 million users in 181 countries gave to more than 282,000 charities, which resulted in 2016 becoming the biggest year for donations at the end of the year with PayPal.

The report noted that, based on PayPal’s data, 21 percent of gifts were made via a mobile device during the holidays, which is a 12 percent increase from 2015. Thanks to the real-time nature of mobile payments, PayPal also found more donations were processed on Dec. 31 than on any other day of the year, with consumers donating $77 million to charities on that day alone. The report noted that #GivingTuesday, which fell on Nov. 29, was still the third-highest day in terms of donations around the globe.

While consumers were in a charitable mood during the holidays and the year, some were more generous than others. PayPal found the largest single gift during the holidays was $230,000, while the average contribution was $93. Throughout the year, the average donation was $89.

For the new year, PayPal is predicting charitable giving will expand thanks to the emergence of technology and social media platforms. “Traditional donations will continue to result in billions of dollars for charitable organizations each year, but new means of philanthropy, such as crowdfunding platforms, will increase in popularity as donors are given more choice in how they give back,” PayPal said, according to the report.