# Children’s perceptions of charity revealed in new report

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/04/09/childrens-perceptions-of-charity-revealed-in-new-report/
- Published: 2019-04-09T09:00:53+01:00
- Author: Melanie May

**Supporting charities is about everyday behaviour as well as giving money, in the
eyes of young children, a report has revealed.**

 

[_Our Charitable Children: Engaging Children in Charities and Charitable Giving_](https://www.kent.ac.uk/sspssr/philanthropy/publications/documents/our-charitable-children-research-report.pdf),
by Alison Body, Emily Lau & Jo Josephidou from the University of Kent’s [Centre for Philanthropy](https://www.kent.ac.uk/sspssr/philanthropy/)
and Canterbury Christ Church University, involved 150 children aged 4-8 years old,
to find out what children think about charity.

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It found no single accepted definition for charity but that children’s perceptions
of charity go well beyond giving financially, with greater focus on actions and 
behaviours, such as recycling, collecting litter and supporting nature; or helping
others, such as befriending other children, or helping in their community.

 

Children did not distinguish between donating money, things or other resources, 
and acts of kindness or support, and often associated charitable giving and actions
with pro-social behaviours taught 
at school, with the research showing that children
are involved in a huge amount of fundraising activities, predominately at school,
but also at home, at after-school clubs and within the community.

 

However, while over half of the children engaged in the research project had some
knowledge and awareness of charities
 and experience of fundraising, they had very
limited understanding of why, where the money goes and how it is used, with few 
involved in decisions about their charitable activity.

 

Unsurprisingly, children give to what they see and what they know – to the more 
high-profile causes and campaigns such as Children in Need, Comic Relief, and the
Poppy Appeal. Donating food at the harvest festival, and homelessness also featured
highly as cause areas that children were both very aware of, with high levels of
concern expressed about the latter.

 

The research also showed that children want to have impact, and that after researching
and exploring different charities as part of the project, most re-evaluated how 
they would give money. When children’s giving decisions were compared before and
after spending time exploring the topic, findings showed decision-making changed
from choosing based on what they knew to thinking about the size, popularity and
need of the causes they were looking at with many children changing their giving
decisions to donate to the less popular causes, such as supporting young carers,
childhood illnesses and international aid charities.

 

The report highlights the importance of engaging children with giving and suggests
that learning about giving and helping others can give children a feeling 
of empowerment
in an uncertain world. It also suggests that exploring charitable ideas and giving
provides 
the ideal space, along with learning opportunities, to critically explore
some of these deeper ideas with children, concluding:

 

> “Taking a neutral stance on difficult issues in the classroom, in the community
> or at home, rather than encourage democratic thinking can limit civic participation.
> Philanthropy, charity and social justice are contentious topics, yet if we are
> to recognise children as social actors and current citizens then it is imperative
> that we provide them with the opportunity to critically explore the challenges
> and debates around giving and equality.”

 

The full report can be [downloaded here](https://www.kent.ac.uk/sspssr/philanthropy/publications/documents/our-charitable-children-research-report.pdf).

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