The fundraising platform JustGiving has expanded its payment options to enable text donations to charities.

The new initiative, which has been developed with the mobile payments company Fonix, enables people to donate to charities’ JustGiving campaign pages via a secure SMS payment, which the platform hopes will help charities reach a wider audience and increase donations.

Charities can inform an account manager from JustGiving if they want to set up text giving for a campaign and JustGiving will work directly with Fonix to provide them with a text keyword for the campaign.

The organisations said the partnership will “transform charitable giving by integrating seamless SMS donation technology”, making it “easier than ever” for people to support good causes.

JustGiving keeps a percentage of each donation made as a payment processing fee, which for text giving is 5 per cent of the donated amount. This compares with its rates of 1.9 per cent plus a 30 pence charge for debit or credit card donations in the UK.

If the charity wants JustGiving to also process GiftAid on their behalf, which is an optional service, there is a separate 5 per cent fee.

Fonix already caters to many charities in the UK, including Comic Relief, Children in Need, Socceraid and Stand Up To Cancer. Since 2014, Fonix has processed £333m in SMS donations. 

JustGiving raised a record £550m for nearly 20,000 UK charities through its platform in 2023 and more than 950,000 JustGiving fundraising pages were set up during the year – a 9 per cent increase on 2022.

Oliver Shaw-Latimer, senior director of payments and innovation at JustGiving, said: “JustGiving is committed to making giving as easy and accessible as possible. 

“This partnership allows us to offer our users a fast, secure and convenient way to donate through their mobile devices, helping us continue our mission of connecting people with the causes they care about.”

Rob Weisz, chief executive of Fonix, said: “JustGiving has been a pivotal force in charity fundraising for over two decades and remains one of the most recognised platforms for both charities and donors.

“This partnership will allow JustGiving’s charity partners to leverage Fonix’s mobile payment technology to offer text donations in the UK – a crucial donation method given its simplicity and widespread use.”