Third of donors giving more during lockdown
Melanie May | 18 May 2020 | News
A third of people who have supported a charity during lockdown have donated more money than usual while 15% are volunteering more of their time, according to a report from Opinium.
The report, How do charities adapt to the impact of Covid-19, looks at how consumers are supporting charities at this time, and includes a number of recommendations.
Opinium found that UK adults are continuing to support charities at this time, with half (51%) donating in the last month, and one in five (19%) having donated to specific coronavirus emergency appeals.
Animals (18%), specific diseases (18%), poverty (16%) local services (16%) and homelessness (14%) now make up the top five causes. Pre-Covid-19, the top five was: specific diseases, animals, children, emergency search, and mental health.
Other findings include:
- 23% of those continuing to support charities are providing one-off or occasional donations (23%) with 10% setting up regular donations
- One in ten (12%) have donated to a fundraiser and 11% have donated goods.
- A fifth (20%) of those who have supported a charity during lockdown say they have donated more goods than they usually would.
- 12% of those donating more than usual currently say they will donate more money to charity when things start to return to normality
- Personal awareness for personal difficulties and experiences of community has increased during Covid-19
The most popular way of supporting a charity to raise money is buying an item (40%), while doing individual runs or bike rides rather than large organised runs are also popular with 39% daying they love or like this, as are online pub quizzes (30%) and online fundraisers on behalf of someone that has passed away (26%).
Kate Whiffen, Senior Research Manager at Opinium Research commented:
“Charities are currently going through some challenging times due to Covid-19. These challenges are likely to remain for some time, as it’s unlikely society will return to full normality anytime soon. Therefore knowing how charities can adapt and move forward in these times is key. We have heard some very positive stories from the public as to what makes them support more now and what would do in the future, but it’s the challenge of communicating and educating the long term impact Covid-19 will have on the charity sector and learning from new initiatives that have been successful that would work in the future.”
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.