Comic Relief extends relationship with GoCardless to easily collect donations year-round

London, 23 January 2023 -- GoCardless, the bank payment company, and Comic Relief, the UK charity, have extended their relationship until 2026, enabling Comic Relief to continue using GoCardless for Direct Debit to easily collect recurring donations all year round. 

This will enable Comic Relief, which started working with GoCardless in 2019, to take more donations outside of its yearly Red Nose Day fundraising campaign, giving people an easier way to support the causes that matter to them. 

The announcement comes as research from GoCardless revealed that Brits still want to donate despite the ongoing cost of living crisis, with 37% of people saying they will continue to give to charity even if their finances are squeezed. 52% also indicate they would give to a charity again if donations are 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.”

 Notes to Editors  

For more information, contact press@gocardless.com. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. The figures cited in this release are from two surveys. Fieldwork for the first survey was undertaken between 22nd – 23rd November 2022 with a total sample size of 2021 adults. The second survey, which asked the same set of questions, was conducted in 2023 between 19th July 2023 – 20th July 2023 with sample size of 2014 adults The surveys were carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

About GoCardless  

GoCardless is a global leader in direct bank payments. We help more than 85,000 businesses, from start-ups to household names, collect both recurring and one-off payments, without the chasing, stress or expensive fees. Each year GoCardless processes more than US$30 billion of payments across 30+ countries. Our acquisition of Nordigen means we’re also helping businesses make faster and more informed decisions through easy access to bank account data. We are headquartered in the UK, with additional offices in Australia, France, Latvia and the United States. For more information, please visit www.gocardless.com and follow us on Twitter @GoCardless.  

About Comic Relief 

Comic Relief is a UK charity that uses the power of entertainment and popular culture to work towards a vision of a just world free from poverty. We raise money to support organisations that are closest to the communities who can make change happen. We support work that will tackle the impact of poverty, injustice, conflict, and climate change in the UK and around the world.

Since launching in 1985, we have raised over £1.5 billion thanks to the huge generosity and kindness of the public and our partners. For more information on our work, visit www.comicrelief.com or follow @comicrelief on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok for the latest content and news. 

Comic Relief is the operating name of Charity Projects, registered charity in England & Wales (326568) and Scotland (SC039730).

© 2024 GoCardless Ltd. All Rights Reserved. GoCardless is a registered trademark of GoCardless Ltd in multiple countries. Third party trademarks mentioned above are owned by their respective companies. Unless explicitly identified as such, nothing in this press release should be construed to the contrary, or as an approval, endorsement or sponsorship by any third parties of GoCardless Ltd. or any aspect of this press release.