BRITISH PUBLIC POSITIVE ABOUT SMALL CHARITIES DESPITE LACK OF AWARENESS, SAYS LATEST RESEARCH
21 June 2018
Recent research shows that the British public mostly believes that small charities are having a positive impact on our society, even if they struggle to name any small charities themselves.
The Charities Aid Foundation (CAF)’s data indicates that nearly two thirds of people (62%) think small charities have had a positive impact on their local community and a quarter (24%) say that this impact has been ‘very positive’. This is despite awareness of specific small charities being low, with 64% of respondents saying they weren’t sure or couldn’t name any small charities.
CAF commissioned YouGov who polled 1,086 adults aged 16+ in May 2018, ahead of Small Charity Week which began on Monday 18th June.
People associate small charities with being local (41%), having a small staff (13%), working within a niche cause (11%), and having a low turnover (10%). 7% define a small charity as either being staffed entirely by volunteers or where 100% of money raised goes to the cause.
Elsewhere, 63% report having done something for a small charity in the past (donating money, giving goods, sponsoring someone, volunteering, or helping to fundraise). Looking ahead to the future, a willingness to help out is high, especially through giving goods (64%), donating money (58%) and sponsoring someone (49%).
A generational divide shows that whilst young people are less likely than older people to have donated money to a small charity in the past, they are particularly open to the possibility of volunteering for one in the future – 37% of 16-34 year olds said they are likely to do so.
CAF’s Head of Research Susan Pinkney adds:
“With Small Charity Week in full swing, it’s a good time to recognise the outstanding work that small charities do, whilst also getting a picture of how they’re perceived by the general public.
“It’s great that nearly two-thirds of those asked view small charities positively, but awareness is an issue, with 64% unable to name a single small charity. Clearly there’s work to be done and Small Charity Week has a prominent role to play in that.”
Notes to editors
- CAF is one of Europe’s largest charitable foundations, and for over 90 years has helped donors, companies, charities and social organisations make a bigger impact. It exists to make giving go further, so that more lives and communities around the world can be transformed. We are CAF and we make giving count.
- On behalf of CAF, YouGov polled 1,086 adults aged 16+ between 18th and 29th May 2018. The survey was conducted online and the sample is representative of known demographics including sex, age, region and social grade.