Charitable giving and philanthropy
What's New -
The impact of the recession on charitable giving in the UK
This briefing paper complements UK Giving 2009 which can be downloaded below.
Key Findings
- In the UK over half the adult population (54%) continue to donate to charity in an average month.
- The total amount of charitable giving has declined during the recession, down by 11% from 2007/08.
- The recession has had a similar impact in the United States, where charitable giving declined by 6% between 2007 and 2008.
- Historic evidence suggests that the length and severity of a recession will impact on the levels of charitable donations, but that not all causes will be affected equally.
- Legacy donations have decreased in value during the recession, although there has been an increase in the number of legacies received.
- Individual motivations for charitable giving go beyond personal finances: charities should continue to ask for support during an economic downturn.
Download The impact of the recession on charitable giving in the UK (PDF 114KB)
UK Giving 2009 
This annual publication provides an overview of the latest estimates and long-term trends in individual charitable giving.
- 54% of adults donate in an average month, down from 56% in 2007/08
- The median monthly donation is £10 per month
- Cash is still the most popular method for giving
- Individuals donated £9.9 billion to charity, down 11% from 2007/08
Download UK Giving 2009 (PDF 531 KB)
Key findings from UK Giving 2009
View Giving at a glance to read the key messages from UK Giving 2009 (PDF 266KB)
UK Giving 2008
This annual publication provides an overview of the latest estimates and long-term trends in individual charitable giving.
- 56% of respondents had given to charity with the last four weeks. This level remains similar to the previous year.
- The latest annual estimate of giving from the total UK population is £10.6 billion
- The median donation was £11
Download UK Giving 2008 (PDF 363KB)
Key findings from UK Giving 2008
The Centre for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy
The Centre for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy (CGAP) was launched on 1 October 2008. It is composed of a cross-national hub (NCVO, Cass Business School & Edinburgh University) and three spokes, involving five universities and NCVO.
The Centre's mission is to build a better understanding of charitable giving and philanthropy for donors, charities and policy-makers. It aims at promoting the strategic role of philanthropy in meeting today's social needs.
The Centre has been jointly funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), Office of the Third Sector (OTS), Carnegie UK Trust and Scottish Government. Together they provide a total of £2.2million over 5 years.
Find out more about the Centre for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy
Publications
NCVO's research on charitable giving and philanthropy
NCVO has been researching charitable giving since the mid 1990s. A key output of NCVO's work on charitable giving is the annual report, UK Giving, on individual giving to charity, which is published in December each year. Since 2004 NCVO has worked in partnership with the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) in producing UK Giving. For more information on our work on charitable giving contact Saunvedan Aparanti.
UK Giving 2007
Published: December 2007
This annual report describes broad patterns of giving to charity, year by year, using data from the Individual Giving Survey (IGS). In a new departure this year, UK Giving also presents analyses of several years' data on gender and on how giving to specific causes clusters with other causes.
- Download UK Giving 2007 (432KB)
UK Giving is an annual publication. Please see below for details of previous year's publications:
Other relevant NCVO information
- For information on NCVO's policy work on gift aid read the discussion paper (453 KB PDF) and the response (137 KB PDF) to the Government's gift aid consultation (September 2007).
- Read the Third Sector Foresight report on how new technologies are changing giving.
- For practical information on funding visit our sustainable funding webpages.
Research from events
- Richard Harrison (Charities Aid Foundation), UK Giving: Findings and context, Download the PDF (85.9KB)
- John Micklewright and Sylke Schnepf (University of Southampton), Who gives to overseas causes? Download the PDF (166 KB)
- Greg Piper and Sylke Schnepf (NCVO and University of Southampton), Gender differences in giving behaviour and the effect of household giving, Download the PDF (59 KB)
- Download the ESRC Charitable giving and donor motivation report (PDF 570KB)
