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July 2023 - Voluntary

CAF survey reveals fewer people are engaging with charities than before pandemic: A survey by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) has revealed that donation levels, volunteering and sponsorship have not recovered to the levels they were at pre-pandemic, which says the organisation could suggest a 'worrying and permanent change in charitable activity'.

The UK Giving Report has been put together using survey data across 2022 and found that although charitable activities are around the same level as they were in 2021 (84% in 2022 vs 83% in 2021), they are still below the level they were before the pandemic (88%).

Volunteering in 2022

While 17% said they had 'volunteered in the last year' in the 2019 pre-pandemic survey, just 13% said the same in the latest survey, while those saying they had volunteered 'in the last four weeks' had fallen from 9% to 7%.

The survey also found that the cost of living crisis is impacting charities, and the charitable activities of UK citizens. While almost seven in 10 people polled said they would need to cut back on their spending to afford to pay bills and other necessary expenditure, 17% said they would be likely to make savings by cutting charitable donations. Similarly, a quarter of respondents (24%) said their charitable behaviours had already changed, with one in 20  (5%) admitting they had reduced or cancelled altogether a regular donation, while one in 10 (10%) said they had chosen not to make a one-off charitable donation.

The data showed that there was a spike in donations in 2022, in March (34%) and April (28%), compared to the previous year, which has been attributed to the start of the war in Ukraine. The average donation in March was £85, while in April it fell to £65, which contributed to the £12.7billion raised in 2022, and saw the overall total amount donated being £2 billion higher than in 2021. That said, there is also some suggestion, according to analysis by Pro Bono Economics that as much as £0.5 billion may have been eroded due to rising inflation.

Neil Heslop OBE, Chief Executive of the Charities Aid Foundation, said: “While the Government’s lifelines for charities this year may have been make or break for many, these findings show the next task is to come up with the policy solutions and incentives required to foster a more widespread culture of giving and participation in the UK.”

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