A “lack of faith” between wealthy individuals and charities is a major barrier to giving in the UK, a new report has argued.
The report, Barriers to Giving: Research into the evolving world of philanthropy, states that only 50 per cent of UK multimillionaires donate 1 per cent or more of their annual income to charitable causes.
Furthermore, philanthropic donations amount to just 0.5 per cent of UK GDP today, compared with 2.1 per cent in the US.
An 'us and them' mentality
The report identifies charities’ current methods of engaging with high net worth individuals (HNWIs) as reasons for a lack of giving.
Produced by the market research company Savanta on behalf of Barclays Private Bank, it finds that the assumption among charities is often that HNWIs might demand too much control over their donations and that they can always give more. These reasons are cited as “contributing factors to the problematic ‘us and them’ mentality”.
A survey of 150 people with assets of more than £5m was carried out for the report. One in four cited a lack of faith in how charities are run and a lack of control over how money is used as major reasons that prevent them from donating more to charity.
The report also found that 74 per cent of HNWIs believe philanthropy is a responsibility of those wealthier than themselves.
Barclays Private Bank plans to partner with the Institute of Fundraising and The Beacon Collaborative to “bridge the gap between wealthy donors and charities, and encourage greater giving in the UK and beyond”.
The Beacon Collaborative’s objective is to generate an additional £2bn in donations to charity by 2025.
'HNWIs and charities can collaborate to deliver real change'
Peter Lewis, chief executive of the Institute of Fundraising said: “We’re delighted to be bringing the findings of Barriers to Giving 2020 to life for the hundreds of charities we support, with a series of events that will help fundraisers to better understand wealthy donors, and to build more impactful, longer-term relationships with them.
“At the same time there is a need to help HNWIs better understand charities and the impact we know is achieved.”
Emma Turner, director of philanthropy service at Barclays Private Bank, said: “Barriers to Giving reveals a lack of alignment on how HNWIs and charities can collaborate to deliver real change.
“Barclays Private Bank is uniquely positioned to undertake this challenge; not only does our expertise bring a deep understanding of the HNWI landscape, but Barclays also banks one in four charities in the UK.”
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