Britons donated less in 2015 but majority involved in charitable actions

Britons donated a total of £9.6 billion to charity in 2015, a decrease of £500,000 on 2014, and suggesting that overall levels of giving may have fallen in the past year, according to Charities Aid Foundation’s (CAF) annual UK Giving Report 2015.

The report also shows that while 79% of people in the UK got involved in at least one form of charitable action in 2015, men are lagging behind women, with less than half volunteering, donating or sponsoring. 60% of women were involved in some form of charitable behaviour in a typical month in 2015, compared with 52% of men.

The most popular way for people in the UK to support a charity was by donating money. 39% did so in a typical month, followed by donating goods (20%) and sponsoring someone (9%).

£14 is the median average charitable donation with cash the most common way for people to give, accounting for 55% of donations. Those most likely to donate are women, middle or upper middle class and aged over 45. Less than half of young people aged 16-to- 24 (48%) donated to charity last year.

In terms of age group, young adults are the least motivated by good causes, and are the least involved in supporting good causes with less than half doing so in a typical month (43%).

However, young people are the most likely to give their time for free, with 19% of 16-to-24 year olds having done so, while one in ten (11%) people aged 65 or over volunteered for a charity.

People of pensionable age were nearly twice as likely to have given money to charity, with 44% of over 65s having done so in the past month, compared with 23% of people aged 16 to 24.

In terms of causes, children’s charities were the most widely supported (30%), followed by medical research (29%) and animals (22%).

CAF chief executive John Low said:

“Charities need to work harder to motivate men to back good causes and, importantly in the long-term, find new and better ways to get people involved in charitable giving at every age. Sporting fundraisers and appeals like Movember have gone some way towards getting more men and young people giving, but it is clear that more still needs to be done.”