In a blog post on their website, the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) charity said the last four months of the year tend to be the busiest for fundraising.
The organisation wrote that September is widely recognised as the busiest month for birthdays in the UK, with more people born during this time of year than any other.
A number of people marking or celebrating their birthday in September tend to send an online birthday card and make a donation to Hope Spring. From this starting point in autumn, the momentum builds steadily towards Christmas and New Year, when greeting eCard exchanges reach their peak and donations provide an even bigger boost to the charity’s projects.
“Every card sent in these months does more than mark a personal milestone or festive occasion,” a spokesperson for Hope Spring told That's Food and Drink.
“It helps provide something as fundamental as safe water. That means a reduced risk of waterborne illness, it means children can stay in school rather than spending hours fetching water, and it means women and girls can reclaim time and dignity. That’s why we say our eCards are the gift that gives twice.”
Hope Spring points to the final quarter as its most impactful period for a reason. The donations raised through eCards during these four months often set the pace for the projects the charity can carry out in the following year. Whether it is drilling boreholes, constructing wells, or providing hygiene and sanitation education, the funding stream opened by September birthdays and strengthened by the festive season makes the difference between scaling back or expanding life-saving interventions.
The September birthday surge provides a unique entry point. With data consistently showing that the latter half of September has the highest number of birthdays in the UK, the charity highlights this as more than a coincidence. For Hope Spring, it becomes a timely opportunity to encourage people to switch from traditional paper birthday cards to eCards. Doing so turns what might otherwise be a fleeting exchange into a meaningful contribution to a clean water project thousands of miles away.
Beyond the human impact, Hope Spring also stresses the environmental argument. Each year, the UK sends and receives hundreds of millions of physical cards, most heavily concentrated around Christmas. While many of these cards are recycled, a significant proportion end up as waste. The production process itself consumes vast quantities of paper, ink, and energy. By contrast, an eCard not only sidesteps this environmental cost but channels the money saved into something tangible, safe drinking water.
“People often underestimate the ripple effect of small choices,” Emmanuel, one of the charity spokespeople added. “When you swap a paper card for a digital one, you are not just cutting down on waste. You are actively helping a rural community that may have struggled with unsafe water for generations. That one decision can spark a chain of positive impact far greater than the sender might imagine.”
As autumn deepens, the charity sees a steady increase in activity on its eCards platform, often tied to seasonal greetings. By December, the trend peaks. The Christmas period has become not only a time of celebration but also the charity’s busiest fundraising window of the year. For many supporters, the decision to send Christmas wishes digitally rather than on paper has become an annual tradition, one that combines thoughtfulness towards the environment with generosity towards vulnerable communities.
The New Year period follows closely behind, extending the cycle of giving into January. For Hope Spring, this creates a continuous wave of support that carries into the early months of the next year, ensuring clean water projects are not just started but sustained.
While the focus is on fundraising, the charity is careful to frame the message in terms of empowerment rather than charity alone. Each donation, no matter how small, contributes to independence for communities who gain the tools and infrastructure to take control of their water needs. Hope Spring’s model emphasises sustainability, training local residents to maintain and repair wells and boreholes, ensuring projects remain viable for years after installation.
The charity believes that this final quarter of 2025 will be especially significant. With growing public awareness of both environmental issues and global inequality, the link between sending greetings and giving back resonates more strongly than ever. A birthday card in September, a Christmas greeting in December, or a New Year’s wish in January, each becomes more than a token of affection. It becomes a way to stand in solidarity with families who are otherwise left behind by global progress.
In a climate where many are seeking meaningful ways to celebrate without excess, the Hope Spring eCards platform has become a symbol of simplicity with purpose. The act of sending a card remains as personal and heartfelt as ever, but now carries with it the weight of making a tangible difference.
“Hope Spring eCards are proof that generosity does not have to be grand to be transformative,” Seun, a spokesperson concluded. “Something as small as a birthday card or a Christmas greeting can be the reason a child drinks clean water for the first time, or the reason a family no longer walks miles under the hot sun to collect unsafe water. That is the scale of impact hidden inside what looks like a simple gesture.”
As the year draws to a close, Hope Spring invites birthday well-wishers, festive celebrants, and New Year greeters alike to consider turning their words into action through digital cards. With every eCard sent, the charity says, joy reaches not just the inbox of a loved one but also the heart of a community waiting for safe, life-changing water.
