WE ALWAYS KNEW we were a generous bunch, but the #NoMakeUpSelfie craze is proving powerful with cancer awareness donations reaching €475,000 over the past 48 hours.

LikeCharity, the text donation service, says that already over 120,000 Irish people have taken part and donated to cancer support with 100 per cent of all donations by text to 50300 going to the chosen charity.

Surge in donations

They said that the donations continue to flood with another big surge in donations on Thursday night resulting in a further €200,000 being raised by this morning.

The text service provider said they are still processing all the donations as there was a huge amount.

COO of LikeCharity John Kyne said:

Our aim is to make fundraising more efficient for charities and make donating more accessible for the public – the Irish Cancer Society was quick to see the potential in mobile giving and it has benefitted them greatly both through their campaigns and through the strong reaction from the Irish public through sensations such as the no make-up selfie.

Mobile phones

Making donations via mobile phones has created a new donor, says the text service provider stating that it is now more accessible to give than ever before.

The trend of posting selfies online and nominating others began on Wednesday and the social media trend soon went viral.

The craze began in the UK where over £2 million has already been raised for Cancer Research UK.

We’ve long been hailed the most generous countries in Europe and it doesn’t appear like we will be letting go of that title anytime soon.

Read:#NoMakeupSelfie craze causes flood of donations to Irish Cancer Society>

Read: Ireland is the most generous country in Europe, says World Giving Index>