Trust in charities reaches 6-year high
Melanie May | 16 July 2021 | News
A study has found that charities are now among the most trusted groups in society, coming third after doctors and the police. This compares to 2018 when people said they trusted the ‘ordinary man or woman on the street’ more than charities.
As well as trust in charities being at a six-year high, people’s perception of charities’ importance in society is also improving with 60% of those asked saying charities play an important or very important role, compared to 55% last year.
However, the independent study, by Yonder, concludes that there is “no room for complacency”, with the findings showing that the key drivers of trust in charities have not changed during the pandemic, and that people expect charities to:
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- show that they make a positive difference
- spend a high proportion of funds on the end cause, and
- live their values, showing charity not just in what they do, but how they behave along the way
Commenting on the findings, Helen Stephenson, Chief Executive of the Charity Commission, said:
“It is vital that we learn the right lessons from this research. The pandemic has been a momentous event in our collective experience, with charities proving their value time and again. But it has not changed people’s fundamental expectations of charity. More than ever, people need evidence that charities are not ends in themselves, but vehicles for making the world a better place, both through what they achieve, and the values they live along the way.
“This research also reminds us that while the public shares the same basic expectations of charity, people have different attitudes depending on who they are and where they come from. If they are to continue rebuilding trust, charities must recognise and respect this diversity, and engage with a wide range of views and attitudes.”
Additional research by Yonder highlights the uneven impact the pandemic is having on charities. In this survey of over 2,700 trustees, it asked how charities have been impacted by the pandemic in the short term.
A survey of over 2,700 trustees finds that Covid-19 has had an uneven impact on the sector, with smaller charities much more likely to have halted services. A quarter of charities with incomes of less than £10,000 say they were forced to cease all their services, compared to only 3% of charities with incomes of £500,000 or more. In contrast, those largest charities were more likely to have moved their existing services online (63%) and to have helped directly with the pandemic (36%).
As fundraising events were curtailed, over a quarter of the largest charities (> £500,000) were able to find alternative sources of income, compared to only 5% of the smallest (<£10,000). Around half of the largest charities used furlough or emergency government support, and 17% of them accessed the government’s £750m fund set up specifically for the voluntary sector. Smaller charities were less likely to have accessed either.
However, while most charities report significant challenges arising from the pandemic, some say the crisis has also resulted in longer-term benefits, including better and quicker decision making.
Helen Stephenson said:
“The charity sector is incredibly diverse, ranging from tiny kitchen table charities operating on a shoestring to large, complex national or international organisations. And it is clear that whilst the pandemic has deeply affected all charities, it has done so in myriad ways. Its longer-term impact, on charities of all sizes, remains uncertain, but at the Commission we will continue to play our part in helping the sector to succeed into the future.”
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.