Our twelve myths of Christmas giving

With the festive season almost here, we are appealing to the British public to extend their generosity and goodwill to charities this Christmas.

Our Twelve Myths of Christmas Giving debunk some of the misconceptions about how charities use donations and remind people of the importance of giving, especially in the tough economic climate.

Figures from the Centre for Giving and Philanthropy (CGAP) show that the proportion of people giving to charity rises by 5 per cent in December, and average donations also see a slight rise. However, to put this in perspective, people spend £14 a head on Christmas lunch and a total of £20 billion on the cost of Christmas every year – nearly double the amount donated annually to charities (£11 billion). And each Christmas sees £2 billion spent on unwanted Christmas gifts in the UK.

Sir Stuart Etherington, Chief Executive of NCVO, said:

‘No one should deny themselves the right to eat, drink and be merry over the festive period, but we want to remind people that putting a little aside to support your local charities really can deliver a world of difference.  Charities have come through a difficult year where they have had to balance spending cuts against rising demand for their services, making donations more important than ever.

‘We also hope that our Twelve Myths of Christmas Giving will demonstrate how much impact giving to charity can make in these challenging economic times and remind people that the vast majority of charities do excellent work on a very tight budget.   Without the public’s generosity, charities would not be able to provide the crucial services that people and communities need.’

The Twelve Myths of Christmas Giving can be viewed on the Guardian Voluntary Sector Network website.

Find out more about our policy and research work on charitable giving, and download our latest UK Giving report (PDF, 921KB), released earlier this month in partnership with the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF).