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Donors giving less, say three new surveys

Fundraising | Celina Ribeiro | 3 Dec 2008

Up to a quarter of the population are cutting their charitable donations, according to a slew of new surveys into the impact of the financial crisis on giving.

Two of the latest of a seemingly never-ending raft of surveys around the credit crunch would suggest that a trend is beginning to emerge. A YouGov/Gyro survey reported that up to 24 per cent of adults in the UK have reduced their level of donations, while Survey Sampling International's poll of 1,650 consumers found that one in five plan to give less to charity as a result of the downturn.

However, while the figures from YouGov and Survey Sampling International match up, another survey of a further 1,000 adults - conducted by Forster over nearly exactly the same period as the one carried out by YouGov - painted quite a different picture, finding that just 7 per cent of consumers planned to give less to charity.

Cutting donations last on the list of savings

The surveys did, however, discover that cutting back on giving to charities was one of the last things that people were inclined to do in order to save money. According to YouGov, more than twice as many reported that they were eating out less, using less electricity and buying more own-label supermarket brands.

Richard Perry, chief operating officer at Gyro International, said: "Naturally we expect consumers to take steps to reduce their outgoings but it's surprising to see such a large percentage of the public making cutbacks here.

"Charities will need to rethink their communications strategies over the coming months to ensure they remain top of mind for their supporters and are seen as the last resort when it comes to making those decisions and reducing financial support."

Three-quarters not changed giving habits

Despite the fears that voluntary income to charities could fall, Survey Sampling International's study found that three-quarters of respondents had not changed their giving habits. Also heartening for UK charities is the revelation that the UK has the most charitable population of the European nations surveyed, with 77 per cent giving to charity. This compared well with the less philanthropic Germans, where national giving levels were at 61 per cent.

The Survey Sampling study also found that charities which focused on direct help to people, such as humanitarian and medical organisations, were more likely to get consumers donating than others; a statistic backed by the Charity Market Monitor (CMM), reported on in this month's Professional Fundraising and produced by Cass Business School in association with CaritasData, which demonstrated that medical charities remain the most popular cause.

Trust giving 10 per cent higher

Released widely last week, the CMM 2008 reported a 10 per cent increase in trust giving over the 2006/2007 financial year while corporate donations rose 2 per cent. Corporates now provide 3 per cent of total voluntary income to charities (£64m to the top 300 charitable organisations).

Writing in Professional Fundraising this month, CMM author Cathy Pharoah noted ominously that one-third of the top

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