CHARITIES IN the UK are coming under financial pressure as the number of donors has fallen sharply as well as the cash donated, according to the latest research.
The new research from the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) reveals that between January and April 2022, an estimated 4.9m fewer people said they donated to charity or sponsored someone in the previous year, compared to the same months in 2019.
The CAF UK Giving report is the largest study of household donor behaviour in the UK and this latest research tracks giving trends throughout 2021 and into the first four months of 2022 as the pandemic receded.
Although the number of people giving has been steadily decreasing since 2016, this trend stalled during the initial stages of the pandemic. But as life returns to normal, donations and sponsorship are continuing to fall below pre-pandemic levels – a trend which is consistent across age groups and regions. From January to April 2022, only 57 per cent of people said they donated or sponsored someone in the previous 12 months, compared to 65 per cent in 2019.
Although face-to-face fundraising events are resuming, only 13 per cent of people have given in this way in 2022, compared to 23 per cent in the same months in 2019.
The only exception has been the spike in donations to charities helping people affected by the crisis in Ukraine, as the UK public responded with record-setting generosity. In March 2022, around a third of people said they had donated money specifically in response to the crisis, and the average donation increased to £85 – significantly higher than usual levels,
