CAF UK Giving 2024 Highlights

This year, the Charities Aid Foundation celebrates its centenary. For decades, the organisation has been at the centre of the giving world where it seeks to influence the wider environment for charities and donors both in the UK and beyond. CAF’s latest research on UK Giving, Mapping Generosity Across the Country, is essential reading for anyone working or volunteering in the Third Sector. Here, Gifted’s Konna Benson, shares some of the Report’s highlights.

£1.2bn more was donated in 2023 vs 2022 – So where did this come from?

This reveals one of the most important insights around donor giving, and a trend which we’ve also observed first-hand at Gifted. The increase comes from a broad assortment of charities, funders and individual donors.

Total donations have increased, but this is because of larger gift sizes, not more people donating.

This important distinction represents the ongoing struggles within the fundraising sector. Both the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis resulted in continual challenges for charities in terms of raising donations from individuals. However, charities that have invested in Major Giving and Philanthropy programmes (Major Gifts, Trusts and Legacy predominantly), have shown the greatest growth since 2022.

What this shows is that the money is there, and donors are prepared to give. Importantly, though, the trend is associated with major donors, giving larger sums, to a reduced selection of chosen charities. Simply put, it’s about wanting to achieve the greatest impact in clear ‘times of need’.

Who (and where) gives the most?

For the first time, donation insights are available for all 650 UK constituencies. Interestingly, the research reveals that some of the least affluent parts of the country are the most generous, giving up to four times as much as some of the most affluent areas.

London is the least generous of the UKs capital cities, with Cardiff and Belfast amongst the most generous.

Women were most likely to support a charity in multiple different ways compared to men, especially those aged 45+.

Donations to overseas aid have halved since 2022 (7% from 14%), allowing growth for other charitable areas, the top 5 being:

·      Religious Organisations (13%)

·      Children/Youth (10%)

·      Animal Welfare (9%)

·      Food Banks (7%),

·      Disability (7%)

Whilst charities can use many of these insights to segment and target potential donors with greater accuracy, the most important thing is to have a clear plan for identifying and cultivating major gifts.

How To Find Your Top Donors

A continuing trend is that 60% of all donors said they heard about their charity because of personal experience, or through friends and family. This highlights how vital relationship building and stewardship journeys are within fundraising teams. People buy from people, and this is just as true when it comes to buying into your cause.

Being able to imbed an impactful stewardship journey into all areas of your charity, one that tells the right story, engages donors with the right ask, and has the right processes to identify and cultivate major donors, requires expertise and time that can generate significant ROI.

Does your charity have a major giving strategy and stewardship journey?

With public donations decreasing in quantity, but gift sizes being larger than ever, it’s vital that charities adapt to the times, review and invest in major giving. Those that don’t will likely see themselves continuing to struggle to secure gifts from an increasingly smaller pool of donations, in an already difficult fundraising climate.

How we can help

At Gifted, we understand the challenges facing charities of all sizes; whether you’re a national organisation needing a strategic review to help grow your revenue by millions, or a small local charity looking for periodic support. Our team can advise you on the next important steps and provide expert advice when it comes to securing transformational six and seven figure gifts.

To find out more about the way we work and the impact we can help you to achieve, take a look at our services and client areas. Alternatively, get in touch with one of our directors and ask for an exploratory conversation about your fundraising needs.