There’s been a lot of commentary on the latest figures from the Charities Aid Foundation’s UK Giving Report 2026 published last month. The headline statistic that giving in the UK has fallen by £1.4bn to £14bn prompted sector responses ranging from fretful soul-searching to William Wallaceesque rallying calls. However, diverse as the commentary is, few sector responses are pessimistic.
In an online post, partner at Astarita Aldrich and Ward, Tobin Aldrich, notes: “The report has some alarming headlines – but the full story is far more nuanced. Legacies are booming, major giving is growing and many charities are thriving despite a shrinking donor base.”
A blanket explanation that all giving is down and the cost-of-living crisis is the root cause is over-simplistic. As Tom Downie, director of strategic philanthropy EMEA at Tiltify, says: “The narrative is often: ‘People can’t afford to give anymore’. But when you look closer, a different pattern emerges – high‑income households saying they don’t want to give; record giving, but shrinking participation; and gen Z increasing their giving, but doing it through creators, communities, and platforms that feel more human. This isn’t a cost‑of‑living problem. It’s a connection problem.”
Sarah Crowhurst, co-founder of Hynt, has a similar take: “There is opportunity hidden in the data here. While income is down, we can control some of the narrative. We’re fighting for fewer donors, but still a generous pot. Relevance is the currency of 2026. If you aren’t timely, your cause is invisible.”
All these comments have an underlying theme: that there are opportunities but they are not necessarily where they were a decade ago. And that’s not a bad thing. The sector just needs to adjust to those changes. After all, if fundraisers aren’t the ones to reverse the trend, who will?
Founding director of 3rd Sector Mission, Richard Sved, puts it neatly: “While the data is important, I’m not convinced it helps any of us to turn our fire inward based on what appears to be a single-year downward trend. Of course, we have lessons to learn. But we’ll only make progress if we approach that learning from a place of confidence and possibility. Fundraising isn’t broken. But if we keep telling ourselves it is, we risk breaking the brilliant people who make it happen.”
Stephen Cotterill is editor of Fundraising Magazine.
