Boston

#GIVINGTUESDAY, a charitable initiative which uses social media as its catalyst, has raised nearly US$117 million in online donations, a jump of 155 per cent over last year, according to preliminary calculations exclusively provided to Reuters by the event's organisers.

In the 24 hours starting at midnight Eastern Time on Dec 1, US charities reported receiving 1.08 million donations. "We are just so thrilled. The movement caught on last year, and it's here to stay," said Sheila Herrling, senior vice president of the Washington, DC-based Case Foundation, which financed the data analysis. "We had a lot of confidence that this would keep on rolling."