Online cash donations flood to Yunnan

(ECNS) -- Cash donations flooded into the earthquake-jolted Yunnan province via third-party social network donation platforms, the China Business News reported Thursday.

Sina Weibo has shown potential to become a game changer for the country's nonprofit sector by encouraging ordinary citizens to participate in philanthropy. Sina's micro-charity platform, launched in 2007, has initiated 21 quake relief projects with the help of institutions and individuals as of 5 pm Wednesday.

Meanwhile, other Internet service providers offering online payment platforms, including Tencent and Alipay, have also collected big donations for the quake-hit areas.

Alipay gathered nearly 20 million yuan in donations by 8 am Wednesday; 25,809 netizens donated more than 600,000 yuan during the first nine hours after the Taobao donation platform was launched on Aug 4, a new netizen touching the button every 1.25 seconds on average.

More than 300,000 people donated 12 million yuan through Tencent's online donation platform by Wednesday night.

Yao Yao, Shenzhen One Foundation Charity Fund, founded by kung fu star Jet Li, said they initiated a charity project on Tencent's platform just several hours after the quake. "As much as 90 percent of our donations are via mobile terminals," he said, adding that traditional donation methods have been abandoned.

Being able to donate online easily while gaming, shopping, or socializing, ordinary citizens can respond instantly to issues they care about, China Daily said. Donations are often no more than a few dollars, but these can quickly add up.

On the other hand, more post-90s are participating in philanthropy, the report said.