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January 2023 - Voluntary

Support and advice charities attract the most paying members: A survey looking at charity membership in the UK has revealed that support and advice charities attract the most paying members. 

The survey by nfpResearch found that 23% of UK adults are paying members of a charity overall. Of these, the most popular type was found to be support and advice charities (38%), followed by campaign charities (32%). More than a quarter were paying members of cultural/heritage charities, while 23% of respondents said they were paying members of a special interest group/society/club.

The research also looked at the types of charities men and women typically sign up to, with men more likely to be members of cultural and heritage charities (36% vs 17%) and special interest group charities (29% vs 15%). Women were more likely to be members of campaigning charities (38% vs 28%), found the research.

Motivations for being members of charity

Respondents also were asked about their motivations for being members of a charity, with almost half the campaign charity members saying they were driven by a desire to support a worthwhile cause, while 47% of special interest charity members said they signed up to 'make a difference'. Just over two-fifths of cultural/heritage charity members (42%) also said their motivation was supporting a worthwhile cause.

Other reasons for supporting a charity through membership was 'gaining the benefits', particularly for cultural/heritage charities and special interest charities (42% and 38%) and 'enjoying feeling part of an organisation and a sense of loyalty' was important to members of special interest charities and cultural/heritage charities (40% and 34% respectively).

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