In the last six months, one in five people donated to a charity after it received criticism in the media as a signal of support, according to a new report.
Referred to as “inverse giving” in the report, this figure grows to 37% of 18–24-year-olds.
The research also found that younger people are more likely to support charities supporting LGBTQIA+ people, ethnic minorities and migrants.
The respondents were divided on whether charities should engage in politics, with 51% wanting charities to campaign for change while the remaining 49% said they should stay out of politics.
Respondents had relatively high trust in charities, with 45% saying they had high trust in them.
Charities were also voted as the most effective organisations to help those in need (59%), with celebrities and influencers voted the second most effective (42%).
Enthuse’s Donor Pulse report surveyed 2,015 members of the UK public to gather the data. Interviews and analysis were completed in August 2023.
Public divided on whether charities should engage in politics
The report found the sample was divided on whether they wanted charities to campaign for change or stay out of politics altogether.
Some 51% said they wanted charities to campaign for change while the remaining 49% said they should stay out of politics.
The report found that under 45s are more likely to think charities should campaign for change (64%) than stay out of politics.
However, for over 45s the inverse is true, with 61% thinking charities should steer clear of politics.
Chester Mojay-Sinclare, chief executive of Enthuse, said: “The research tells us that the public is split down the middle on charities interjecting, although it's worth noting that younger people are more likely to support charities engaging in political discourse.”
High trust in charities
The report found that most respondents had high trust in charities. Overall, the report found an average score of 6.94 out of 10 in respondents' trust in charities.
Nearly half (45%) scored their trust between 8 and 10. Some 32% had moderate trust in charities, while 22% voted that they had low trust in charities.
In terms of trust in how donations were made, 57% of people said they felt very confident about where their money went when donating directly to a charity online.
This is nearly double that of the people that felt a high level of trust in donating to crowdfunding giving platforms such as GoFundMe and Crowdfunder (30%).
Some 29% said they had high trust in voting via a consumer-giving platform, while 26% said they had high trust in giving cash or contactless payments to individuals collecting for charity.
Charities voted most effective organisations to help people in need
Charities were voted as the most effective organisations to stand up for the rights of people in need, with 59% of the sample saying so.
This is more than double the amount of people who thought local or central government is the most effective at doing so (28%). Respondents had the option of choosing more than one option.
Celebrities and influencers like Gary Lineker and Marcus Rashford were voted as the second most effective at helping those in need (42%) and individual members of the public came in at third place (34%).
Some 20% said faith and religious institutions were most effective, while 9% said none of these.
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