Most businesses in Britain “do nothing” to support charities, according to research from the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF).
CAF’s survey of 1,085 businesses found that 25% across the country donated their time, cash or goods to charities last year.
There were geographical differences, with businesses in the north east of England (41%) most likely to donate, while those in the south east were least likely to do so (12%).
Some 3% of businesses in the south east of England gave cash, in comparison to 31% of those located in the north east.
CAF estimated that, from those British businesses that did support charities, around £4.2bn was donated in 2024, with nearly half of this coming from FTSE 100 companies.
But the number of FTSE 100 companies that gave at least 1% of their pre-tax profits to charities declined to 24 last year, down from 28 in the previous year, according to CAF’s corporate giving report 2025.
The research found an estimated £300m less was given by British businesses in cash last year, in favour of in-kind donations, which it equated to 5,455 small charities going unfunded.
Call for mandatory reporting
As a result of these findings, CAF has called on the government to reintroduce the mandatory requirement to report corporate giving which it says will improve transparency and motivate businesses to donate to charities.
It said charities would receive £5bn in additional funding if just 1% more of businesses donated.
Neil Heslop, chief executive of CAF, said: “Corporate giving is not an optional extra. It is a cornerstone of responsible business that employees and customers expect.
“Across the country, there are great examples of businesses working hand in hand with charities in local areas, and demonstrating that sustained, purposeful giving is certainly achievable.
“Government also has a crucial role to play in fostering a renewed culture of giving and encouraging community investment from businesses to the places and communities they are a part of.”
