Over 40 per cent of adults say they are less likely to give to charity after reading recent stories of “aggressive fundraising” tactics in national newspapers, according to a poll published today.

The research, which was conducted by YouGov on behalf of communications company the REaD Group, asked 2,061 adults whether recent stories around “aggressive fundraising” have made people more or less likely to donate. Of the respondents, 42 per cent said they are now less likely to donate to charities.

The survey followed the negative coverage of fundraising that emerged following the suicide of 92-year-old Olive Cooke, who had previously expressed concern about the high number of fundraising requests she was receiving.

Cooke’s death led newspapers to claim fundraisers had "hounded her to death" but her family explicitly confirmed that her death had “nothing to do with charities”.

Charities contact too frequently

The survey found that 47 per cent of respondents felt they were contacted too frequently by charities. Yet 18 per cent said they disagreed with this, 35 per cent were indifferent.

People aged over 55 were the most likely to complain of too much contact, with 59 per cent saying they felt the level of contact was too much.

The REaD Group said that the research shows that “consumers feel the issue is not with frequency of contact but rather with who charities are targeting too much”.