Public trust in fundraising in Scotland “remains high”
Howard Lake | 17 February 2016 | News
People in Scotland remain confident in giving to charity and the majority of them have done so in the past year, according to a report published today by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO).
The report is based on a survey of more than 1,000 people in Scotland. It found that:
- 73% of people agree that they feel confident in donating to charity
- 9 out of 10 have contributed to charity in the last year.
The report, The public view: trust, confidence and support of charities in Scotland, indicates that public trust and confidence in charities in Scotland has not been damaged by the criticism over the past nine months by some newspapers of some charities’ fundraising tactics in England.
The report is based on a telephone survey of 1,028 adults aged 16+ in Scotland commissioned by SCVO and conducted by Ipsos Mori between 9 and 16 November 2015, six months after the first media criticisms were made of English charities.
The report has been released in conjunction with The Gathering, at which there will be a consultation event to gain the views and insight of the sector into the future of fundraising regulation in Scotland. Booking is open for ‘Your views, your thoughts on the options for Scottish charity fundraising regulation’ on 18 March.
Morag Fleming, Chair of the Institute of Fundraising Scotland, said:
“We are delighted that public trust of charities, and in particular, fundraising, continues to be high in Scotland. Throughout the country, we have charities providing vital services that so many people are dependent on. This would not be possible without the hard work of fundraisers, whose belief and passion for our causes is second to none, and the generosity of the Scottish people”.
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John Downie, Director of Public Affairs, SCVO added that, given that charities operate on public trust, it was encouraging that people in Scotland continued to trust and support charities. He said:
“Whilst these are positive results, we shouldn’t take this trust and support for granted. We need to do everything in our power to maintain and strengthen it. That’s why we’re urging charities in Scotland to help design a new system of fundraising self-regulation to ensure that the public can completely trust, and have confidence, in how they raise funds for the causes they care about.”
Take the survey into fundraising regulation in Scotland
You can share your views on the future of fundraising regulation in Scotland via SCVO’s survey.
SCVO is the membership organisation for Scotland’s charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises. The Scottish third sector turns over £4.5 billion a year and employs 138,000 people in over 45,000 organisations.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.