Public Servant Lifestyle

The total amount donated to charity by the British public has risen, despite the proportion of the population, giving in the UK, still being far smaller than it used to be.

According to the latest study of charitable giving, published by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) one third of the British population did not give any money to charity at all last year. Back in 1994, 8 out of 10 Britons donated money to good causes.

After a sharp decline in the mid 1990s, charitable donations have been on the increase again since 1998. In 2000 they totalled £5.76 billion, a return in real terms to the 1993 levels. This return is entirely down to current donors giving more, as the percentage of the population donating to charity has crept up by less than 3%.

Profile

A clear profile of charitable donors has emerged. Women give to charity more than men do, and their average donation is higher. This pattern has only been upset once in the past few years, when in 1999, men were recorded as having donated more than women had. People aged between 25 and 64 are more likely to be donors, and their average donation is higher compared with the youngest (16-24) and the oldest (65+).

"It is very encouraging to see such a recovery in the total amount donated to charity," said Stuart Etherington, chief executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO).

"Voluntary organisations are the glue that holds society together. We must work harder to encourage a return to the very high levels of public participation in charitable giving, which Britain enjoyed in the early 1990's "

"Greater support from the Government and the voluntary sector for new initiatives like the Giving Campaign, which promote popular participation in charitable giving, is urgently needed, if we are serious about creating a truly caring society."

"These new figures on charitable giving in the UK suggest that charities are operating from a narrower, if more generous donor base than in 1994," added Andrew Passey, the NCVO's head of research. " With charities under increasing pressure to keep their fundraising costs down, they appear to be experiencing greater difficulty in reaching those groups that are less likely to give."

Medical Research

Medical research and children or young people are the most popular causes. They have drawn support from 20% of the population and 15% of the total donations to charity. NCVO's survey, which was conducted by NOP, also reveals that the amount of money which people think reaches the actual cause, for each pound they donate, does make a difference to their generosity. Non-donors think 10p less, in every pound, reaches the cause than donors do. Amongst active donors, the more they think reaches the cause, the more they give.

Key findings of the NCVO/NOP study of individual charitable giving:

More information available in Giving