Nearly 40 per cent of people in the UK are put off donating to charity by viral fundraising campaigns, new research by a money saving website shows.
The poll is part of an ongoing study of social spending and charity trends being carried out by vouchercodespro.co.uk. It shows people who were put off donating cited the frequency of fundraising campaigns as the main reason, with 41 per cent of respondents stating this as their reason for not giving.
Nick Swan, chief executive of the site, believes there has been “an excess of fundraising campaigns on social media” this year, such as the Ice Bucket Challenge and No Make-Up Selfies, which have “saturated” the market.
The site surveyed 1,946 UK adults about their charitable giving.
Respondents were asked to choose from a list of fundraising activities, which types “put them off” donating.
The poll shows; 39 per cent chose viral fundraising, 23 per cent said street, 21 per cent said TV appeals and 12 per cent said online.
But respondents were also asked what types of fundraising made them most likely to donate. The poll finds that 33 per cent said TV appeals, 22 per cent said online, 19 per cent said viral campaigns, and 15 per cent said street.
Asked why they were put off by certain types of fundraising, 41 per cent of respondents said there had been too many campaigns, 27 per cent said it was because they could not afford to donate, 18 per cent said they never carry change, and 14 per cent said fundraisers are “too in-your-face”.
Previous research carried out by the site appeared to show that people taking the Ice Bucket Challenge were not giving to charity. It found 56 per cent of those who did the challenge did not donate.
