Survey Suggests Most UK Donors Have Not Changed Their Charitable Giving

March 23, 2009 Third Sector Online — Almost six out of 10 people who responded to a survey by data analysis firm G2 Data Dynamics said their donations had not changed as a result of the economic downturn.

The poll, carried out in February, asked a representative sample of 30,000 UK consumers how their support for charities had changed during the recession. Seventy-nine per cent of 1,000 people who responded said they gave regularly to charity. Of these, 58 per cent of the said that their giving remained unchanged.

However, 14 per cent of respondents had suspended their support for charity and cancelled regular direct debit donations, the survey indicated.

It also revealed that 17 per cent of respondents who earned less than £15,000 a year had scrapped regular charitable donations. Fourteen per cent of those who earned more than £50,000 said they had stopped donating on a regular basis.

"There is still staunch support from many respondents," said Alan Thorpe, commercial and operations director at G2 Data Dynamics, which advises companies on their marketing investment. "Charity marketers should think carefully about how to get the best out of their existing donor databases to make people stick with them and potentially persuade lapsed supporters to give again."