In 10 Years, Donors Message ServiceHas Organized 700-Plus Fund-Raising Drives

Sofia, June 21 (BTA) - During the ten years since the system was established in Bulgaria, the Donors Message Service (DMS) 17777 has organized more than 700 fund-raising programmes, the organizers of the charity initiative reported at a BTA-hosted news conference on Tuesday.

The most successful drive was the one for the victims of flooding of Varna's Asparouhovo Quarter in June 2014, which collected more than 1 million leva, said Krassimira Velichkova of the Bulgarian Donors Forum.

Ninety-two campaigns are currently in progress.

The DMS noted, though, that there is no law on public fund raising in this country to regulate the establishment of a watchdog against abuse.

In ten years, donors have sent a little over 7.5 million text messages, contributing more than 7 million leva, Velichkova added. SMS donation is still the preferred method of supporting causes, and trust in the system is improving on the whole. Of the nearly 1 million leva raised last year, 85 per cent came precisely through text messages.

The share of online donations is 15 per cent, and it has been steadily tending upwards since 2015.

An increasing number of individuals opt for concluding a donation agreement. Nearly 10,000 people already donate 2 leva monthly on a regular basis.

Seventy-four individual agreements on 26,386 leva donated online were concluded in 2016.