The Charity Commission’s annual survey of people’s perceptions of charities has made for pretty depressing reading in recent years – particularly just after the fundraising and safeguarding fiascoes towards the end of the last decade.
But last month the latest research threw up some rare good news: public trust in charities has hit a 10-year high, at 6.5 out of 10. Not only that, 58% of survey participants said they had “high” trust in charities, placing sector organisations among the most trusted groups in society, second only to doctors. We can only speculate as to the factors that have contributed to this, but we haven’t had many high-profile media scandals for a while so maybe we can assume that governance is improving. Another reason could be that growing numbers of people are accessing charity services (9% of respondents to the research, up from 3% in 2020).
Moreover, this heartening restoration of trust in our causes and organisations is not the only piece of positive sentiment displayed towards them over the summer months. Thousands of people expressed solidarity with migrant, refugee and equality charities during the riots perpetuated by far-right thugs, and large numbers turned out to protect mosques, shops and other charity premises from the violence.
And it’s not just members of the public whose attitudes to the sector have perceptibly shifted. While it remains early days for the new government, several charity leaders were invited to take part in a roundtable organised by Kier Starmer’s chief of staff Sue Gray in early August. At this event they also met with new culture secretary Lisa Nandy, who a few days later wrote a letter to civil society groups thanking them for the unique role they played in response to the riots. The wording of the letter was light years away from much of the rhetoric charities endured from the previous administration; for example, Nandy said she recognised that civil society organisations “are having to make tough decisions daily” and that her department was “committed to creating the space to listen to how we can work most effectively together, in both the short and long term”.
In the hope that this more insightful approach from Labour will foster a closer relationship between the government and the sector, we have introduced a new section to G&L, titled Policy & Public Affairs. In this section, we hope to provide readers with updates on charities’ work with the new administration. Our first two articles in this month’s edition look at how such partnerships could be developed, and what’s needed to make them a success.
Challenges remain, of course: we should be under no illusion about the state of the public finances and we can rule out any silver lining for charities in Rachel Reeves’s forthcoming autumn budget. The Commission’s research also found that the proportion of people saying they had donated money or goods, or raised funds for charity, has fallen to just 47% from 62% in 2020 – that’s worrying. The economic environment will be bleak for some time yet, and charities will have to navigate this as best they can. But after a long period of supping from a perception glass that’s seemed half-empty at best, it does feel as if the sector could be experiencing some stirrings of renewed public and political confidence. Long may it last, because while such warm sentiment may feel immaterial when you’re struggling to balance the books, it could be a solid foundation to build from once growth and prosperity return.
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