Virgin Money has announced that the charity fundraising website, Virgin Money Giving, will close for donations on 30 November 2021, following the final London Marathon with Virgin Money as sponsor.
The fundraising website was launched in 2009 to support Virgin Money’s new sponsorship of the London Marathon, at a time when the online fundraising market was dominated by a very small number of providers, with high costs for charities and donors.
Operated as a not-for-profit entity since it was created, Virgin Money Giving has helped 20,000 charities and over a million fundraisers raise more than £900 million online. Charities and fundraisers now have a much wider choice of online giving platforms and pay substantially lower fees.
Virgin Money undertook a strategic review of Virgin Money Giving ahead of the bank’s final sponsorship of the London Marathon next month. Given the significant investment required in the service for it to remain competitive, and without the brand exposure provided by the London Marathon, Virgin Money has decided to wind down the platform after the 2021 London Marathon in October.
Virgin Money Giving will continue to offer a full service for charities and fundraisers until the service closes for donations on 30 November. It will support charities to find alternative platforms where needed, although many charities registered on Virgin Money Giving are already registered with alternative fundraising platforms.
Any colleagues affected by the closure will be supported through Virgin Money’s redeployment process, with the aim of securing other internal opportunities and minimising compulsory redundancies wherever possible. However, a reduction of up to 26 roles is expected.
Helen Page, Chief Brand Officer at Virgin Money, said “Virgin Money Giving was created to support our sponsorship of the London Marathon and disrupt the online charity giving market. The not-for-profit service has helped millions of fundraisers and donors raise over £900 million for good causes and has changed the sector for the better.
“Following the end of our sponsorship of the London Marathon, it is the right time to bring the service to a close and help our charity partners to move to an alternative and sustainable giving platform.”
Virgin Money Giving is contacting all charities registered with the service, fundraisers with live pages and regular donors with details of the changes.