Public trust in charities is rising in Scotland, according to figures published last week by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator.
The OSCR carried out surveys of the public and of charities, and followed these with in-depth interviews with individuals. The findings were compared to similar research conducted in 2011.
The poll found the number of Scots ranking their trust in charities as six or above, on a scale of one to ten, rose from 60 per cent to 68 per cent.
Last week, a report into trust in charities by nfpSynergy found that trust in charities was volatile, and had dropped sharply since last year, but that this was a return to 2011 levels. A Charity Commission report found that trust was constant since 2012.
Changes in public attitudes
The OSCR report found there was a significant drop in the number of people saying they were “extremely interested” in the work of charities. This fell from 33 per cent in the 2011 survey to 25 per cent in 2014.
The major drops were among women – down from 38 per cent to 26 per cent – and among those aged 55 to 64 – down from 46 per cent to 19 per cent.
The number of people using charity services rose from 9 per cent in 2011 to 22 per cent this year. The number of people volunteering also rose, from 20 per cent to 23 per cent. The number of people giving rose from 89 per cent to 92 per cent.
There was a large increase in the number of people buying goods and donating goods to charities.
Donations were more likely to have come by text, with the number of people giving this way up from 3 per cent to 14 per cent. But there was a significant drop in the number of people giving by cheque, down from 21 per cent to 15 per cent.
Personal experience and trust drive donations
The public said their single largest driver for supporting charities was personal experience, with 44 per cent of supporters saying this was the reason they gave.
However donors said they were highly demotivated by “hard sell” techniques from charities. In-depth interviews with donors found that “many claimed to be overwhelmed by television adverts for charities, especially at Christmas time”.
“There were clear signs of donor fatigue in our qualitative sample with respondents saying they felt more pressured by advertising, telephone requests and street collectors,” the report says. “There were also reports of charities behaving aggressively when it comes to soliciting donations.”
The report said that donors were very sensitive about the amount which went to the end cause, “which made them more inclined to give to charities where they know those running them are volunteers.”
Charities most concerned about finance
Over half of charities surveyed – 52 per cent – said that finance and funding were the most important issue for them. This was up from 47 per cent in 2011.
However local authority funding cuts were not a major issue, with only 5 per cent of charities saying it was their major concern.
Charities said in interviews that they were facing a changing pattern in donations
“Charities are having to work harder for greater numbers of smaller value donations,” the report says. “Respondents also claimed that the number of corporate donations has decreased.”
