Most British businesses do nothing to support charities

4 September 2025

Most British businesses do nothing to support charities

• 75% of British businesses do not support charities by giving time, cash or goods.
• Businesses in the North East (41%) most likely to donate, while those in the South East are least likely to (12%).
• An estimated £4.2bn was donated by UK businesses last year, with nearly half donated by FTSE 100 companies.
• Cash giving has declined, in favour of in-kind donations.

Most of Britain’s businesses do nothing to support charities, new research by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) has found. Only 25% of British businesses donated to charities in the form of time, cash or goods last year.

CAF’s Corporate Giving Report 2025 reveals that from those that do support charities, an estimated £4.2 billion was donated by British business in 2024, with nearly half donated by FTSE 100 companies. Charitable donations by FTSE 100 companies totalled £1.85 billion last year. If donations had kept up with inflation, charities would have received £185 million more. Only 24 of the FTSE 100 gave at least one percent of their pre-tax profits to charity last year, down from 28 in the previous year. 

Cash donations from British businesses have seen a significant drop with an estimated £300 million less given in cash last year, equating to around 5,455 small charities going unfunded. 

Businesses in the North East are the most likely to support charities (41%), while those in the South East are the least likely to (12%). Only 3% of businesses in the South East give cash, compared to 31% of those in the North East.

Neil Heslop OBE, Chief Executive of the Charities Aid Foundation, said:

“Corporate giving is not an optional extra. It is a cornerstone of responsible business that employees and customers expect. Yet, at a time when charities continue to face severe funding challenges, our research reveals that most British businesses are disengaged from meaningful community investment. 

"Best practice for business is to commit to donating at least one percent of pre-tax profits. Across the country, there are great examples of businesses working hand in hand with charities in local areas, and demonstrating that sustained, purposeful giving is certainly achievable."

“Government also has a crucial role to play in fostering a renewed culture of giving and encouraging community investment from businesses to the places and communities they are a part of.”

CAF is calling for the Government to reintroduce the mandatory requirement to report corporate giving to improve transparency and motivate businesses to donate to good causes and invest in communities.  If more UK businesses gave 1%, including all the FTSE 100, it could mean charities receive almost £5 billion in additional funding."

Notes to Editors

1. Polling was carried out by BDRC on behalf of CAF. A representative sample of 1,085 businesses was surveyed between 1 to 14 April 2025.
2. The companies included in the FTSE 100 analysis are those who were constituents of the FTSE 100 on March 1, 2025. 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 2024.