A mixed giving landscape in Scotland

This year’s Scotland Giving provides us with a mixed picture.

There are some bright spots. The number of Scottish people participating in charitable or social activities is positive.

But the report finds that the number of people giving has gone down. And the frequency with which people give is also in decline.

Charities make up the fabric which underpins Scottish society. This year’s report presents a challenging giving landscape.

But there is scope for charities to use these figures as a catalyst for greater engagement with the Scottish people and to encourage government to do more to protect the sector in these uncertain economic and political times.

Read the full report to find out what's going on

Key findings from CAF Scotland Giving 2019

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£851 million was donated to charity in 2018

This is higher than the £813 million donated in 2016 but lower than the 2017 peak of £1.2 billion.

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Scots more likely to take part in a charitable or social activity in the last four weeks than UK as a whole

There is a gap of 12 percentage points, with 76% of Scots participating in a charitable or social activity, compared to 64% in the UK as a whole.

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Top 3 causes remain the same

Children and young people (30%), medical research (28%) and animal welfare (24%) remain the top cause areas donated to in Scotland.
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Frequency of giving is decreasing

From 31% giving weekly or monthly in 2017 compared to 27% in 2018, this is a trend we’re currently seeing across the whole of the UK.

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Fewer people are being asked to give

There has been a decrease in the methods by which people are asked to give, with on street and direct mail in particular having fallen back year on year.

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Trust in charities is more resilient than the rest of UK

Those saying they ‘strongly’ or ‘tend to’ trust charities in 2018 was very similar to 2017 at 49% (compared to 50% in 2017 and 52% in 2016). In the UK as a whole, the figure is 48% which was significantly lower than 2017’s figure of 51%.

Scotland landscape

 

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