GoCardless has announced the extension of its relationship with Comic Relief until 2026. With the next Red Nose Day set for 15th March 2024, the bank payment company will power the direct debit process for the charity. The announcement sees the relationship that was first formed in 2019.
Comic Relief raised £35,310,407 for Red Nose Day 2023. However, Comic Relief also benefits from the recurring donations provided by ordinary people who set up recurring and affordable donations using a seamless process provided by GoCardless. It allows the charity to have a steady flow of funds rather than relying on a single event for its fundraising, which is risky, especially in the current economic climate.
Recent research indicated that 37% of people would continue to donate to charity despite the economic conditions. However, the economic background is having an impact, with 45% donating regularly in 2023, down from 49% in 2022. 63% of consumers have donated to charity in the last year in some form.
Comic Relief will leverage GoCardless for Direct Debit to provide consumers with a simple-to-use process for setting up the direct debit and help maximise donations outside of the March event. That ease of donation is important as 52% indicated they would give to a charity again if donations were fast and easy.
Georgina Persson, Executive Director of Operations Comic Relief, said, “We are delighted to be able to continue working with GoCardless to ensure making online donations to Comic Relief is as simple and seamless as possible for our generous supporters. We look forward to seeing how we can keep building on this success over the next few years as we look to grow our fundraising activities all year round.”
Pat Phelan, Managing Director of UK & Ireland and Chief Customer Officer at GoCardless, said, “We know that recurring donations are better when financial pressures increase – giving little, but often, goes a long way. For charities, implementing Direct Debit greatly improves flexibility for donors, leading to an increase in the overall donations that they receive. We’re proud to extend this long-standing relationship and power payments for good.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
This is the second announcement by GoCardless involving charitable organisations. Earlier this month, GoCardless extended its relationship with the firm, making it the exclusive open banking payment provider, replacing American Express. JustGiving added the Instant Bank Pay feature to its platform.
GoCardless estimates that its solution can cut the cost of collecting, managing and reconciling recurring payments by up to 56%. With charities always under pressure to reduce administration costs it will be interesting to see whether it reveals whether working with a single provider provides further savings.
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