A guide to giving to good causes at Christmas has been released this week, following research which suggests that people still feel generous despite the economic climate.

The Give More campaign commissioned Populus to research giving in order to create the Give Guide, which launched on Monday – dubbed the busiest online shopping day of the year.

The research comprised interviews with a random sample of 2,175 UK adults nationwide from Populus’ online panel this autumn, weighted to the profile of all UK adults.

It found that despite 86 per cent of people admitting that Christmas will be harder for them this year – with over half (55 per cent) conceding they will buy fewer presents and over two thirds (69 per cent) saying that Christmas has “lost its meaning” – there is still a “huge appetite for giving”.

The Give Guide features ideas to help consumers support charities during the festive season without breaking the bank. Offering skills, recycling products and committing small and frequent quantities of time instead of large chunks are three of its suggestions.

One third of women will buy presents in charity shops

Further findings from the survey include that almost half (43 per cent) of 18-24 year olds would be willing to buy presents from websites that give to charity, over three quarters (78 per cent) would be willing to donate food they don’t need and over a third of women (36 per cent) will buy presents in charity shops.

Give More was launched in April with the mission to encourage people to commit more “money, energy and time” to charities over the next 12 months, and has had more than 9,500 pledges so far.

The Give Guide is available here.