Government incentives encourage donors to give to charity, a survey commissioned by Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) has found.
The survey was carried out by YouGov at the end of July and collected answers from 1,102 UK adults.
Two in five (40%) respondents who already give to charity said are more likely to do so when government incentives such as Gift Aid and match-funding are in place.
Susan Pinkney, head of research at CAF, said: “People want to do all they can and these survey results demonstrate that with extra encouragement from the government, they will dig deeper to help more if they can.
“It is heartening to see that despite the economic worries facing so many UK households, the willingness to help those in need is still very strong.”
More than 200 charities support Gift Aid proposal
Sector bodies CAF, NCVO, the Chartered Institute of Fundraising, the Charity Tax Group and the Charity Finance Group have proposed a temporary increase in Gift Aid to support charities during the coronavirus pandemic.
They ask for the government to increase the effective tax rate applied to Gift Aid from 20% to 25%. This would mean that charities could claim £33.33 of Gift Aid for every £100 donated, against the current £25. The change would be temporary, starting from 2020-2021 for two tax years.
The proposal was originally put forward at the end of June, and more than 200 charities have backed it so far.
Sector bodies estimate that the move would result in £450m more for charities. NSPCC said it would increase its income by about £200,000 a month.
The coalition backing the proposal said in a statement: “The broad support that we’ve seen across the charity sector for the Gift Aid Emergency Relief package shows just how important these changes would be for charitable services and beneficiaries across the UK.
“We hope the government considers some of the charities at real risk and takes forward the proposals to give a much-needed boost at this hugely challenging time.”
Last month, the government announced that the last £85m of the coronavirus relief package for charities will be distributed through a match-funding programme.
