"This first dedicated Wales Giving report gives us some terrific insights into the generosity of people in Wales and helps us better understand how and when they give. 

"Our research tells us that the Welsh give big in response to the big charity appeals in November and December, but I’d say charities have to work to raise awareness of the incredible benefits of claiming Gift Aid on all of that generosity to make that money go even further."

Susan Pinkney, CAF’s Head of Research

 

Susan Pinkney Head of Research

Contents

Key findings

Foreword
Introduction
Key findings
    

Detailed findings part 1

Overall picture
Giving money, peak months and Gift Aid
Volunteering
Giving goods
Charitable and social action
Who is engaged?
Frequency of giving
     

Detailed findings part 2

Total amount of giving
Typical amount given
Most popular causes
Who gives to what
How people give
Being asked to give
Trust in charities

Foreword

It is a true pleasure to be able to introduce you to our first ever dedicated report into charitable giving in Wales. Nearly all of us turn to charity at some point in our lives, often without us even realising that we are using one of the thousands of charities operating across Wales. Our charities are part of the fabric of who we are, they underpin our way of life and cut across so many of our cultural, social, religious and educational activities.

Our inaugural Wales report joins Scotland Giving in breaking out and helping to identify trends of generosity among the Welsh. Unsurprising to anyone who has spent any time in Wales, this report details a level of commitment to community and to helping our neighbours of which the people of Wales can be rightly proud.

But it is not something that charities, politicians and wider communities can ever take for granted. As we have noted across the United Kingdom, Wales Giving provides us with a picture of giving that includes some bright spots when it comes to the willingness of the Welsh people to respond to seasonal charity appeals more so than the UK as a whole and the robust level of participation in charitable or social activities undertaken by the Welsh. But the report also identifies some trouble spots such as a lower rate of people claiming the Gift Aid credit in Wales than elsewhere and overall smaller amounts being given, most likely reflecting lower average earnings.

Our hope here at CAF is that this information will help raise public awareness of some of the challenges facing charities and also assist charities by identifying areas where they might be able to direct resources in order to raise even more for good causes.

People give because they are inspired, because they are touched by a charity’s work and because they know that their donations make a tangible difference. It rests with all of us to make the case on behalf of our charities, be they small groups gathering in a village hall to address a local need or a national organisation tackling widespread issues. In Wales, charities provide invaluable services, but they also serve to bring our communities together in a bid to make the world a better place. In times of economic and political uncertainty, those bonds are more important than ever and are worth fighting to protect.

Sir John Low
Chief Executive
Charities Aid Foundation

Introduction

CAF has been producing the UK Giving report since 2004, and has been tracking giving in the UK as a whole for several decades. With a clear goal of assisting charities, government and wider society to better understand charitable giving, we are delighted to be launching our first dedicated ‘CAF Wales Giving’ report.

Since 2016 on our UK Giving study, we have been interviewing c.1,000 individuals monthly across the UK about their giving behaviour. In 2017 we began producing annual Scotland Giving reports and are now in a position to publish our inaugural CAF Wales Giving report to add to the series.

This is as a result of increasing our monthly sample size in Wales to 100 since January 2018. This ensures a minimum of 1,200 interviews across the year and enables us to report on Wales within its own right.
3 out of five people wales givig 2019
   
We believe that this is the only study of giving behaviour in Wales made freely available tocharities, and we hope that this report, which will be an annual event, will be able to inform debate around charitable giving in Wales. We produce a number of research reports each year and all of these are freely available. To receive them straight into your email subscribe today.

We do hope you find this report both topical and useful – if you do have any questions, comments or suggestions, please contact the CAF Research team at research@cafonline.org.