Changing attitudes to charitable giving

Living in Squeezed Britain

Karl Wilding | NCVO Policy & ResearchE karl.wilding@ncvo-vol.org.uk T @karlwilding T 020 75202478

Contents

• Trends in charitable giving & philanthropy• Changing attitudes and behaviours• Changing attitudes: what are giving and

philanthropy for?

Trends in giving behaviour

How much is given in total?

Our survey of individuals produces an estimate of

£11.0bnfor the year 2010/11

Our survey of ‘general charities’

produces an estimate of

£8.2bnfor the year 2009/10

A survey of philanthropists

produces an estimate of

£872mfor the year

2008/09

Legacies

£1.8bn

The proportion of adults giving to charity and the total annual amount donated, inflation adjusted, 2004/05 – 2010/11 (£ billions, %)

Source: NCVO/ CAF

How much do donors typically give each month?

Med

ian:

£12

/ m

onth

Mea

n: £

31/

mon

th

Who

giv

es?

Why large donations are important

£5.6bn

x

8% of donors…give £100 or more…almost half of total giving

92% of donors…give less than £100/month…just over half of total giving

=

=

£5.0bn

x

What about major philanthropists?

• Research by Beth Breeze of Kent University estimates that 80 major gifts from individual philanthropists worth an additional £872m in 2009/10.

• This fell from 100 gifts worth a collective £1.0bn in 2008/09

Gifts of £1m+ were worth

£872mfor the year

2009/10

The civic core

Source: TSRC

Proportion of donors giving and proportion of total amount donated by cause, 2010/11

What causes do people give to?

Source: NCVO/CAF

Trends in [donor] attitudes and behaviours

Donor attitudes (BSAS 2003)• Investors: £10+/month

• believe that there is quite a lot of poverty in Britain today, and they are

• more likely than Bystanders or Contributors ascribe poverty to social injustice

http://instituteforphilanthropy.org/cms/pages/documents/Who_Are_The_Givers.pdf

Views on poverty (BSAS 2003)

Bystanders Contributors InvestorsThere is quitea lot of poverty in Britain (57)

54 58 61

An inevitable partof modern life (36)

34 38 35

Laziness or lackof will power (28)

31 28 13

Because of injusticein our society (19)

18 16 30

http://instituteforphilanthropy.org/cms/pages/documents/Who_Are_The_Givers.pdf

Changing attitudes: donors, buyers or investors?

• Some evidence of a marketisation of charitable giving

• Shift from ‘altruistic’ giving to buying/shopping– Heightened by recession

Type of income, 2000/01 – 2009/10 (£ billions)

Source: NCVO/TSRC, Charity Commission

Source: Co-op Ethical Consumerism Report 2010

Changing attitudes: donors, buyers or investors?

• Giving as an investment (which requires a return)– Philanthrocapitalism– Impact investing– Blended Value

• Habits/culture of equity analysis– Scaling, metrics

• And financial tools – SIBs, loans (patient capital,

microfinance)

Changing attitudes? Social justice philanthropy

• Eg Rosenman - Caring to Change: (cf scientific philanthropy)• Woburn Place Collaborative• Maytree Foundation

• funding is directed toward organizations advocating the collective interest of disadvantaged or underrepresented groups

• belief that poverty is caused by inequitable allocation of resources and access to power in society and that disempowered groups should be given the tools to challenge existing structures as well as a voice in decisions

Negative attitudes towards giving

• Professionalisation• Asking: fundraising

methods

Negative attitudes towards giving

• Resource allocation: where most needed?

• Public benefit is not universally agreed

• Deserving vs undeserving poor

Negative attitudes: giving by the rich

Changing attitudes: what are giving and philanthropy for in Squeezed Britain?

Changing attitudes: what are giving and philanthropy for in Squeezed Britain?

Changing attitudes: what are giving and philanthropy for in Squeezed Britain?

Changing attitudes: what are giving and philanthropy for in Squeezed Britain?

Changing attitudes: what are giving and philanthropy for in Squeezed Britain?

So...

• Charitable impulse remains strong• Supported by tax and regulatory environment• No fatigue: but reliance on a civic core• Main change in attitude is shift to investor

mindset• Giving remains contested: by left and right• But change in practices too, eg to ABCD and,

hopefully, social justice philanthropy