Pennies raises £1,000,000 from four million micro-donations

Micro-donation charity Pennies gains momentum as its electronic charity box donations double in just eight months, bringing the total raised to £1,000,000. This has been collected from more than 4 million individual donations averaging just 25p each.

The pace of donations has seen a big increase in recent months with new partners including DFS, Monarch Airlines and The Fragrance Shop joining the movement.  People were particularly generous during the festive season as donations hit a record £32,000 in the week before Christmas.

Pennies gives consumers the simple option to donate a few pence to charity with a single touch of a button when they pay for goods and services by card.

Alison Hutchinson, CEO of The Pennies Foundation, commented: “We have been delighted to see how quickly and easily the public have embraced micro-donations and donated via Pennies. The money raised so far is already making a big difference to so many people’s lives. We look forward to seeing that £1,000,000 figure quickly increase, as more retailers switch on Pennies and more charities benefit.”

To date Pennies has supported 50 charities, large and small, with some receiving significant sums. Toy shop chain The Entertainer began offering Pennies to customers in August 2011.  Since then customer donations have topped £275,000 in support of four children’s hospitals.  That money is already funding projects across the country to benefit sick and injured young patients.

Pennies is available in a range of national retailers as well as many local merchants and charity shops.  As momentum builds, supporters across business and entertainment are getting behind the movement, including Prince Harry, Cheryl Cole, Ian Cheshire and Sir Stuart Rose.