James Myring of Continental Research makes some good points about take-up of online for charitable giving (Analyst Speak, NMA 22.11.07). There's certainly plenty of room for growth in online giving to charities.

But he hasn't got it all right. At the Red Cross, online giving has become one of the most popular ways of donating to emergency appeals. In our latest appeal, for victims of Cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh, 90% of our income from the general public has come via online. And 42% of that was from a single emergency email.

Fast, efficient and secure, online giving to charities is already a major source.

From Tim Pemberton, head of communications coordination, British Red Cross