The public do not always give time or money to the causes they say are their favourites, according to research published this week.

It found that animal charities receive only seven in every hundred donations, despite being named as a favourite cause by 33 per cent of people. However overseas development receives 20 in every hundred donations, despite only 13 per cent of people naming it as one of their favourite causes.

The research also found that the most money was donated to religious causes – 14 per cent of all giving. While medical charities received one in three of all donations, they received only 13 per cent of the money.

The research also found that people are most likely to volunteer for sports organisations – 53 per cent of all volunteers gave time to these charities - but it was not named as one of the ten most popular causes.

Consultancy nfpSynergy asked 1,000 charity supporters to name as many of their favourite causes as they wanted, and also to give information on which charities they donated to and volunteered for.

The research was conducted in July and published two days ago in a report called Facts and Figures: Public’s Favourite Causes.

The report said that despite the public stating clear preferences for certain types of charities, their actual behaviour did not necessarily support what they said.

“The outcome depends on the criteria used,” the report said. “When asked, the public name clear favourites such as cancer and animals, but when their donating and volunteering preferences are considered the picture is far from clear.”