UK Charity Industry – Trends and Insights
- Despite economic challenges, charitable giving in the UK remains steady, with donor numbers and donation amounts consistent over the past five years. Offering alternative ways to give, such as donating retailer loyalty points, can help broaden opportunities for giving, even during financial strain.
- The charity sector faces significant challenges, including increased demand for support, high operational costs, and a crowded market. Smaller charities, in particular, struggle to secure funding, making brand differentiation, transparency, and building strong public connections essential.
- Legacy giving remains a vital income source for charities, but the proportion of supporters leaving gifts in their wills has not increased since September 2024. Growth in this area can be unlocked by engaging regular donors and addressing concerns about balancing family inheritance with charitable contributions.
- An increase in volunteering among 16-34 year olds presents an opportunity for charities to tackle low volunteer rates. Promoting skill development and offering exposure to real work-life experiences can further engage young adults.
Key Issues Covered in this Report
- An overview of charitable giving behaviour, including identifying opportunities for smaller charities and a focus on legacy giving among regular donors and individuals with dependents
- Analysis of amounts and methods of charitable donations, including a focus on donations via retailer loyalty scheme reward points and the opportunity for growing donations among young adults
- Exploration of how donors hear about charitable causes and the rise in the role of recommendations in charity discovery
- Consumer participation in other charitable activities, with a focus on volunteering and its growth potential
Charities can boost engagement by nurturing relationships with regular donors through compelling progress updates and gratitude, while forging corporate partnerships to drive volunteering among young adults.
Yogita Burke, Cross-category Research Analyst
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- What you need to know
- Outlook for the charity market
- Opportunities
- Engage regular donors and support those balancing needs of beneficiaries to boost legacy giving
- Focus on skills development to encourage young adults to volunteer
- Unlock charitable support potential beyond cash
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THE MARKET
- Charity income continues to rise
- Graph 1: income and expenditure of charities in England and Wales, 2021-25
- Competitive charity sector poses challenges, particularly for smaller organisations
- Graph 2: number of charities in England and Wales, 2013-25
- Volunteering rates remain low adding pressure to charity resources
- Graph 3: participation in formal volunteering, England, 2013-24
- Persistent challenges faced by charities
- Charities experience a strain on income
- Affordability is an obstacle for most non-donors
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THE CONSUMER
- Donations to charitable causes
- Charitable giving through monetary donations
- Supporting charitable causes remains a stable behaviour
- Updates can boost repeat donations and foster donor loyalty
- 25-34 year olds support multiple causes, creating opportunities for smaller charities to capture their attention
- Graph 4: number of charitable causes donated to in the last six months, by age group, 2025
- Amount and method of donation
- Drop in micro-donations, but modest uptick in larger contributions
- Graph 5: amount donated to charity in the last six months, 2023-25
- Digital donations skew strongly towards under-45s
- Graph 6: method of donation to charitable causes in the last six months, by age group, 2025
- Cash donations vary in amount, but digital payments tend to be more substantial
- Graph 7: method of donation to charitable causes in the last six months, by amount donated, 2025
- Unlock donation growth through regular payment methods
- Donor usage of loyalty points for charitable giving
- Rewards and improving awareness are key to driving donations via retailer loyalty schemes
- Graph 8: participation in donating to charitable causes via retailer loyalty scheme reward points in the last six months, by generation, 2025
- Redefine charity support through loyalty reward schemes
- Overcome the affordability barrier to donations with reward point contributions
- How donors hear about charitable causes
- Recommendations drive charity discovery
- Recommendations play a crucial role in boosting donations and credibility
- Leverage social media to boost recommendations
- Other charitable activities
- Scope to boost engagement in broader range of charitable activities
- Uptick in young adult volunteers offers further growth potential
- Target young adults to drive volunteering participation
- Highlight the impact of volunteering on charities, while showcasing benefits for young adults
- Graph 9: factors that will encourage people to volunteer for charitable causes, 2025
- Behaviours towards charitable giving
- Estate beneficiaries can be a barrier to legacy gifting among charity supporters
- Help needed to balance legacy giving and desire to support beneficiaries
- Boost legacy giving by engaging regular donors and those deeply connected to the cause
- Tap into the funeral plans market
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INNOVATION AND MARKETING
- Social media advertising spend takes the lead in 2024 and into 2025
- Royal Voluntary Service to launch a new platform to address charitable volunteer shortages
- ‘Be Remembered for More’ campaign adds a humorous touch to promote legacy giving
- Donations via shopping can help address affordability barrier
- St Mungo’s takes an interactive marketing approach
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APPENDIX
- Income and expenditure of registered charities in England and Wales
- Charities by income band in England and Wales
- Advertising expenditure in the charity sector, by media type
- Advertising expenditure in the charity sector, by leading advertisers
- Market definition
- The consumer
- Consumer research questions
- Consumer research methodology
- Repertoire analysis methodology
- UK generation groups
- Other data source methodologies
- Nielsen Ad Intel coverage
- Abbreviations
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