Donations to emergency humanitarian appeals defy recession
10 November 2009
Results from a new
survey of around 1,000 members of the public released today (10
November) by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) on the public’s
engagement with disaster appeals show that despite the recession
continuing, donations to the most recent disaster appeal in the
Asia-Pacific region remains buoyant.
The survey undertaken by GfK NOP, between the 9th and 11th of
October 2009 of 999 individuals aged 16+ in the UK is part of CAF’s
Disaster Monitor series and shows that the proportion of the public
giving to emergency appeals remains constant at 23 per cent for
both the Burma Cyclone appeal in May 2008, and the Asia-Pacific
appeal in October 2009.
However, both appeals are overshadowed by the Asian Tsunami
appeal in 2004/05 where 81 per cent of individuals donated. It is
believed that the key reason for this unparalleled level of support
is that the Tsunami occurred over the Christmas period.
Donors are increasingly turning to ‘new media’ (online and text)
to donate with 17 per cent donating to the Asia-Pacific appeal.
This is a growth of 42 per cent from 2008, and a growth of 143 per
cent from 2004/5. Yet traditional forms of giving such as cash,
cheques and credit or debit cards are still the methods which
donors are most likely to use with 60 per cent using one of these.
Cash giving remains the most popular way to donate to each of the
three disaster appeals, but has dropped in popularity from over
half of donors donating to the Asian Tsunami this way, to 28 per
cent for the recent Asia-Pacific disasters.
When it comes to the medium most likely to inspire donations, it
is still television that has the biggest effect, with 67 per cent
of donors saying that it was something that they saw on screen that
convinced them to donate. Newspapers are the next most likely with
11 per cent of donors claiming that an article or advert inspired
them to give. Only six per cent say that seeing something online
inspired them to donate.
Liz Goodey Head of Research at CAF said, “This research shows
that donations to disaster emergency appeals are defying the
recession and the downward trend seen in overall charitable giving
from individuals in the UK.
“Emergency appeals often hit at the heart of people’s emotions
and are the result of humanitarian tragedy on a massive scale. This
proves that the UK population are still generous and caring,
despite the financially strained times that they are facing.”
A full report, ‘CAF Disaster Monitor: a survey of the UK general
public’s donations to overseas disaster appeals’ will be available
from www.cafonline.org/disastermonitor
Notes to editors
1. The fieldwork was carried out by GfK NOP, 9-11 October 2009
of 999 individuals aged 16+ in the UK. The fieldwork in the
previous series was carried out by:
- GfK NOP, 23-25 May 2008 on 1,002 individuals aged 16+ in the
UK.
- NOP World, 14-16 January 2005 on 1,000 individuals aged 15+ in
GB.
2. The CAF Disaster Monitor is a series of surveys with the
general public, conducted during disaster appeals. The aim of the
Disaster Monitor is to gauge support of disaster appeals over time,
and to track the media communications that prompt people to donate,
and the methods that they use to donate to the appeals.
3. The Asia-Pacific disaster appeals includes the Samoan
Tsunami, the Indonesian earthquake, and the flooding in the
Philippines and Vietnam. These disasters all occurred within a few
days of each other in October 2009.
Media contact
James Ketchell
T: 03000 123 214
E: jketchell@cafonline.org