# Corporate giving is missing hidden pockets of poverty, Neighbourly report warns

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2026/08/13/corporate-giving-is-missing-hidden-pockets-of-poverty-neighbourly-report-warns/
- Published: 2026-08-13T14:32:51+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**Traditional corporate giving models are frequently failing to reach the communities
facing the most acute deprivation, according to a new report from giving platform
Neighbourly.**

The report, _[Giving Without Guessing](https://hub.neighbourly.com/giving-without-guessing-data-driven-insights-for-community-impact-report)_,
produced in partnership with Lidl GB, warns that although businesses in Britain 
donate to good causes each year, much of that money could be having a greater impact.
It draws on the English Indices of Deprivation 2025, published by the Ministry of
Housing, Communities and Local Government, alongside a survey of around 900 frontline
charities in Neighbourly’s network.

Government data cited in the report shows that 82% of neighbourhoods that ranked
among England’s most severely deprived in 2019 were still in the bottom 10% in 2025,
underlining how entrenched hardship has become.

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It also highlights the increasingly hyper-local nature of deprivation, with severe
disadvantage often sitting just streets away from visible affluence. Consequently
broad regional averages can mask the true scale of need. More than 65% of local 
authority areas contain at least one neighbourhood among the 10% most severely deprived
nationally.

## Low confidence that corporate support meets local need

Neighbourly’s research among its charity partners found that **just 3% **believe
corporate support currently reflects local need “very well”, while **95%** think
smaller, less visible charities are overlooked when corporate giving is allocated.

**Steve Butterworth**, chief executive of [Neighbourly](https://www.neighbourly.com/),
said businesses wanted their community investment to make a real difference but 
were “too often giving without the full picture”, with need sometimes hidden inside
apparently prosperous areas or concentrated in tiny neighbourhood pockets. He argued
that smaller charities were often the real experts in their local area but lacked
the profile to compete for corporate support.

**Matt Juden**, head of sustainability at Lidl GB, said a national commitment only
became meaningful when delivered with local precision. Lidl GB uses Neighbourly’s
services to enable it “to connect every store with trusted local causes”.

The report sets out a three-part model for more effective giving:

 * mapping need using public data and live charity intelligence
 * matching businesses with the best-placed local organisations
 * and measuring impact as auditable social value.

It argues that blanket giving models risk missing the smaller “last mile” organisations
closest to those who need help most.

A founding UK B Corporation, Neighbourly has facilitated more than £2 billion of
social value to date through a network of over 45,000 charities and community groups.

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