Catholic charities’ income growth is being limited by small fundraising teams and an under-developed approach to major donors and legacies, according to new research.
Published today, the Catholic Generosity Report also says that the charities have great strengths in regular giving and deep donor relationships resulting in cost-effective fundraising.
Commissioned by Catholics in Fundraising (CiF), consultancy Astarita Aldrich Ward (AAW) found that Catholic charities spend around 20% of voluntary income on fundraising, against 25% for the largest UK charities, with dioceses, missionary and international charities raising about £9 for every £1 spent.
The report says that the findings show a sector that is “large, diverse and resilient, supported by a sizeable community with real and only partially realised giving potential”.
Legacy donations to Catholic charities account for around 12% of voluntary income, researchers found, below the wider UK average and well below the 32% seen among the top 100 charities.
“Legacies offer the largest single prospect for lasting growth, and the inheritance tax changes from April 2027 make the period beforehand a good time to act,” the report reads.
“Major philanthropy is another significant opportunity but will require a more joined up and long-term approach to donors.”
Benchmarking Catholic fundraising
Twenty-eight Catholic charities took part in the research, alongside a comparison group of 43 similarly sized non-Catholic charities
Researchers found that individual giving dominated Catholic charities’ fundraising, providing around 46% of voluntary income, more than in the comparison group, while statutory and contracted income was minimal.
Legacy fundraising returned around £36 for every £1 spent by Catholic charities against £18 in the comparison group, yet only 12 of 19 legacy-receiving charities invested in it at all.
Catholic charities tend to have smaller, less specialist fundraising teams than non-religious comparators, researchers found, with an average Catholic fundraising team of 7.7 full-time equivalent staff, against 16 in the comparison group.
The report states that the UK Catholic community is currently around 5.3 million UK adults, roughly 9% of the adult population.
There is no direct data on the wealth of UK Catholics, according to the report, but no evidence that they differ from the population as a whole.
UK Catholics may give around £2.9bn a year to charitable causes, broadly in line with their share of the population, and giving is heavily concentrated among those who attend church regularly.
While there is no definitive list of Catholic charities, researchers identified approximately 840 across the UK.
Those with incomes above £100,000 reported total income of £1.89bn in 2024 and held funds of £6.85bn, of which voluntary income (donations and legacies) was £565m.
Meanwhile, Stewardship’s annual generosity report, published in January, revealed that committed Christians, who attend church and read the Bible at least once a week, give an average of £326 a month, equating to over 10% of their income.
This is four and a half times more than the £72 per month given by UK citizens to all charities, according to CAF.
It also found that the average monthly giving for all Christians decreased slightly to £116, still one and a half times the national average, equating to 4.7% of monthly income.
