Donations from FTSE 100 companies to charities have not kept pace with profits over the past decade

16 September 2024

New CAF research also suggests charities could be missing out on more than £5bn of donations from UK business community.

• Britain’s biggest listed companies donated £1.82 bn last year, slightly down on the previous year.
• GSK give the highest amount of FTSE 100 companies to charity, and Tesco donates the highest percentage of pre-tax profits.
• Only one in five UK companies intend to increase their giving next year.

Charitable giving by Britain’s largest listed companies over the past ten years has not kept pace with profits, according to new research by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF). While the FTSE 100’s combined profits have increased by 49% since 2014, total donations declined by 13% in the same period. That represents a 34% decline in real terms.

Corporate Giving 2024 finds that the UK’s 100 largest listed businesses gave a total of £1.82 billion to charity last year. This has slightly fallen from the £1.85 billion recorded in 2022 but in real terms equates to an estimated £164 million of lost charitable contributions.

Best practice for businesses is to give at least 1% of their pre-tax profits to charity and maintain that level in years when profits decline. On average, the FTSE 100 donate an average of 0.9% of their pre-tax profits, compared to 0.4% for wider businesses, although there is wide variation between the companies on the index.

Neil Heslop OBE, Chief Executive, Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) said:

“As the largest listed companies, FTSE 100 businesses can lead and drive a responsible corporate culture throughout the UK’s business sector. Donating at least one percent of pre-tax profits should be the starting point, demonstrating a commitment to social purpose and delivering positive impact for both people and planet.

“The Government has a crucial role to play too. A national strategy for philanthropy and charitable giving would help to renew a culture of giving throughout society, unlock vital charitable funds and ensure these reach the causes and areas that need it most.

“Our experience tells us that when charities, the private sector and government all play their part, we can work towards building a resilient and thriving civil society for the future.”

In addition to looking at the charitable giving of FTSE 100 companies, this year’s Corporate Giving report also analyses charitable giving by the UK’s wider business community for the first time. CAF estimates that the UK business sector contributes around £4.29 billion in total to charities.

However, if all companies met best practice to give at least 1% of their pre-tax profits, this could mean £9.9 billion in donations for charities. Yet, only one in five companies intends to increase their giving next year (19% of FTSE 100 and 20% of wider businesses).

The report looks at how much individual FTSE 100 companies contribute to charity by the outright sum donated and that sum as a percentage of pre-tax profits. The healthcare company GSK topped the list for total sum given to charity for the second time, donating £304 million. GSK’s donations account for nearly a sixth of the FTSE 100’s total charitable giving. Tesco gave the highest percentage of pre-tax profits, donating equivalent to 11.9% last year. It was also the highest climber in both rankings, increasing its total donations by £30 million.

The Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), which celebrates its centenary this year, partners with businesses and individual donors to enable them to give more effectively, strategically and impactfully to charities around the world. CAF's long standing UK Giving research found the British public gave £13.9bn to charities last year.

Notes to editors

• For a copy of the report, or to arrange interviews with spokespeople, please contact media@cafonline.org
• The companies included in the FTSE 100 analysis are those who were constituents of the FTSE 100 on March 1, 2024. All data is based on information supplied via a survey to the Charities Aid Foundation or drawn from Annual Reports for financial years ending in 2023.