The rule of the red nose shows no sign of abating, as Red Nose Day’s fundraising matches the amount raised on the day in 2011, its record-breaking year.

Early figures show that Friday’s Red Nose Day raised £75.1m for Comic Relief with the charity still accepting donations, already up on the record-breaking 2011 total of £74.3m.

It remains too early to tell whether this year’s Comic Relief will hit the £104m raised by the 2011 campaign in total; that year Comic Relief raised more than £20m above the 2009 campaign, but last year the charity warned against overly ambitious expectations for growth.

In its last accounts, Comic Relief said it was not expecting to beat its 2011 performance given how much was raised in that year, and the continued stress on family budgets.

“Having considered the scale of the increase in the total raised for Red Nose Day 2011, and the current strain on family incomes and corporate budgets with the continuing difficult economic position, the trustees have decided, for the first time, to set targets for Red Nose Day in 2013 that do not anticipate any real increase in the fundraising total. Trustees believe that the targets that have been set will still be challenging and will require Comic Relief to remain innovative and creative across all areas of the campaign,” the accounts read.

Red Nose Day and the success of Comic Relief and Sport Relief is often referred to as proof of the British public’s enduring generosity despite macroeconomic strife. This year's total includes £16m from government and a significant sum raised by Sainsbury's in trading Red Nose Day merchandise.

According to its report, Comic Relief has been in discussions to export Red Nose Day to the US market, but there has yet to be any breakthroughs in this regard.