Despite all the gloominess brought about by the pandemic (and also the April thundery showers; it’s pouring right now), there’s always some kind of hope and cheer during tough times.
Even though the pandemic has worn us down, many kind souls have decided to help the underprivileged and marginalised in Singapore. In fact, many made use of their cash benefits from Budget packages.
More Than S$100M Donated on Giving.sg to More Than 600 Charities Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic
The National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) online donation platform Giving.sg has received a record two and a half times the donations raised in the last financial year.
According to The Straits Times, Giving.sg received about S$102 million in donations which were given to nearly 600 charities from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021.
The largest donation in a day came on the last day of 2020, where a generous S$2.5 million was donated.
The last financial year saw S$39.5 million being donated on the online platform.
Why was there such a large increase in the amount donated?
Well, NVPC noted that they had received donations from the S$600 given to each Singaporean adult as part of the Solidarity Payment.
In addition, they had waived the 3% transaction fee on their platform so that charities would receive the full amount of the donations.
What Is Giving.sg?
According to their website, Giving.sg is a one-stop platform for users to begin their Giving Journey by volunteering and donating, hosted by NVPC.
The platform also promises to be highly secure to help keep users’ personal information and credit card details safe.
Donors will also be glad to find out that 100% of their donations go to the organisations of their choice as there are no fees.
While charities typically pay a nominal total fee of 3% of the total donated amount and prevailing GST, Giving.sg had dropped this payment and will continue to waive it.
Head over to their website to find out more!
Supporting Members Of Their Community
In light of the ongoing pandemic, Giving.sg had decided to extend the waiver of the platform transaction fee till 31 March 2022 in order to continue supporting the non-profit sector and the 600 charities on the platform.
NVPC deputy chief executive officer Tony Soh expressed that charities had been working extremely hard throughout the pandemic to meet the increased needs of their beneficiaries and the communities at risk.
He hopes that waiving the transaction fee will encourage the public to “continue giving generously, knowing that charities will receive 100 per cent of their donations.”
Mr Soh also added that the centre “hope[s] that Giving.sg can be a unifying national giving platform as we recommit ourselves to supporting members of our community who are in need. In this unusual time, more than ever, we need to give our best for others.”
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