Charities would lose billions without help of fundraisers; women prove more generous than men
Vital charity income would be slashed by billions of pounds a year if it wasn’t for the work of professional fundraisers, our poll conducted on behalf of the Institute of Fundraising shows. Fundraisers have proven to be essential for charities as out of those who have donated to charity in the past three months, nearly half would not have given anything if they had not have been approached by fundraisers.
Results also show that with fundraisers, women are considerably more charitable than men, and London dwellers tend to make larger donations than those living in other parts of the UK.
- 63% of Britons have given to charity in the past three months
- Of those who were prompted to donate, nearly half (46%) would have given less -or nothing at all – to charities if they hadn’t been asked by fundraisers
- Fundraising activity made a particular impact on men, with 45% reporting that they would not have donated at all if it hadn’t been for a fundraiser’s ask.
- Whilst just over a third (34%) of people who recently gave said they had not been prompted to donate, the majority (66%) reported that a fundraising ask had led them to stump up cash
The most charitable Britons
Results suggest that when it comes to being approached by fundraisers, women are more likely to give to charity than men, with twice as many male respondents never giving to charity.
- 66% of women reported they had given to charity in the last three months compared to the 59% of men who had done so
- 7% of men never give to charity, significantly higher than the 3% of women who never donate
As well as differences in gender, there was also a significant divide in donations between those in different parts of the country, with people from London seeming the most generous, giving bigger average donations than donors from other parts of the UK.
Out of all the Londoners who gave to charity over the past three months, 29% had donated more than £51 compared to just 15% of people from the midlands and Wales and those in the north.
“It is gratifying to see that the public recognise the vital importance of employing properly trained staff to foster relationships with donors and raise funds,” says Peter Lewis, Chief Executive of the Institute of Fundraising, the professional membership body for UK fundraisers.
“In these tough economic times charities are increasingly relying on donations to deliver the important work they do so properly trained fundraisers are vital. Indeed, nearly three quarters of people surveyed thought that it was a positive thing for charities to employ staff to undertake fundraising.”
Learn more about the Institute of Fundraising
See the full details and results here
