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The most recent Charitable Giving report from the Charities Aid Foundation has revealed some interesting information about how people in the UK choose to donate to charities.

They interviewed around 12,000 people to build up a picture of the charity sector in the UK in 2017.

The CAF UK Giving 2018 report reveals the extent of charitable giving and provides information on the most popular methods and frequencies of donations.

The report shows that the total amount given to charity in 2017 was £10.3 billion, an increase from 2016’s figure of £9.7 billion.

Charitable Giving – When and How

The CAF also found that November and December were the months that saw the most donations, continuing a trend from 2016. They believe that this can be attributed to various popular campaigns during these months, including Movember and appeals during the Christmas period.

Donating cash continues to be the most common way of giving money to charity, with around 55% of people using this method in 2017. Yet this is slowly becoming less popular.

The report shows that most donors tend to give “from time to time”, around a quarter donate monthly, while just 4% give weekly. Around 13% of those interviewed said they rarely give to charity and about 5% said that they never donate.

Giving online or via text both saw increases over the year, particularly in April, November and December. These increases tended to be related to popular appeals like Comic Relief and Children in Need.

There remains a consistent number giving less regularly, with 13% saying they give to charity rarely and 5% stating that they never give.

Charitable Giving – Who Gives?

Some of the most interesting information in the report concerned the donations of different age groups. The data shows that 16% of people aged 16-24 have not donated or worked with a charity in the past year, compared to just 8% of people aged 65 and over.

The stats also showed that of the younger group of donors, they were significantly less likely to donate on a regular basis compared to the 65+ group.

The older group tend to give the most money and generally donate by direct debit (42%), membership fees (24%), cheque (17%) or by credit card (8%). The youngest group were more likely to support charities through a fundraising event (31%) and by debit card (15%), while those aged 25-44 are the most likely to give via text (14%).

Charitable Giving via SMS

Looking at the stats, text giving is a great tool for charities. The use of cash is decreasing, while younger groups are more likely to donate via text.

Donating via SMS is a really quick and easy way for supporters to donate. There’s no fuss around bank details, or debit and credit cards, as their donation is simply added to their monthly phone bill.

Better yet, it’s a great way for charities to increase the frequency of regular donations. With a simple text, a supporter can sign up to make regular donations either monthly or weekly.

With instaGiv, charities can easily set up customised text giving campaigns using the fully-equipped self-service platform. This gives you the tools to organise competitions via SMS, send mass outbound SMS messages, organise Gift Aid and much more.

On top of that, you’ll get expert support and guidance on campaigns from the instaGiv team.