Mass coverage of the Charity Commission’s critical investigation into the Captain Tom Foundation last year did little to dent public trust in charities, according to new research.
Public trust in charities has remained at its highest level in over a decade, according to the research published today by the commission.
Charities still score 6.5 out of 10 for trust, the same figure as last year, up from 6.3 in 2023 and from a low of 5.5 in 2018, which came after a series of public scandals.
Moreover, 57% of people still have high trust in charities (seven out of 10 or higher), placing it among the most trusted groups in society, second only after doctors.
However, the proportion with low trust has slightly increased since last year (up from 9% to 10%).
Public trust that charities spend most of the money raised directly on the causes they support increased the most year-on-year, by seven percentage points to 64%.
There was also an increase in trust that charities are keeping their staff, volunteers and people who use their services safe from harm, up six percentage points to 67%.
Trust in charities differed between different demographics and experiences, with those from more affluent areas being more likely to have higher trust in charities (62% versus the average 57%).
Those that had recently seen or heard charities in the news were also more likely to have high trust in charities (53% vs 47% of those that had not).
‘Challenging picture and a hopeful one’
While there have been high levels of awareness of the Captain Tom Foundation, the research showed that overall trust in charities had not been impacted, potentially due to how the commission handled the investigation.
The commission’s inquiry, which concluded in November last year, reported that the family of the late Captain Tom Moore “repeatedly benefited” from the “mismanaged” charity set up in his name.
Focus group participants were balanced in their views as while actions of high-profile charities could impact their trust, there was also a sense that it wasn’t fair to question all charities due to the actions of a few.
The Captain Tom Foundation investigation was the main avenue through which people heard about the commission recently; a 13% increase of people had heard about the regulator in this way.
How the commission handled this investigation also increased positivity towards the regulator.
David Holdsworth, chief executive of the Charity Commission, said: “It's encouraging to see improved public confidence in charitable spending, though there is no room for complacency.
“Charities must continue to keep their charitable purposes central to everything they do because this remains a key driver in maintaining public trust.
"The data paints both a challenging picture and a hopeful one – showing a sector that continues to be a bedrock of support and community for people across the country as well as overseas, despite navigating unprecedented demand in an increasingly unstable global landscape.”
Trustees forced to make changes
Alongside the research into public trust, the regulator has published the findings of a survey into charity trustees’ attitudes towards their role.
Some 46% of trustees said their charity had been forced to make changes as a result of cost-of-living pressures in the past year (46%), including stopping some services (11%) and using more of their reserves than expected (17%).
The research found that the vast majority of trustees reported strong confidence in their roles (99% very or fairly confident), although there remained room for improvement in areas such as managing finances (89%) and safeguarding (91%).
Few respondents said that they had experienced negative behaviours; for example, only 2% said that they had witnessed bullying behaviours.
Meanwhile, similarly to the public, perceptions of the commission among trustees were broadly positive, with 74% of trustees who have had direct interaction with the commission saying they were treated fairly.
Related articles
