Charities considered an accurate & unbiased source of information, nfpSynergy trust research shows
Melanie May | 6 July 2017 | News
Charities are trusted by the public to give unbiased and accurate information, as well as to provide commentary on UK policy, nfpSynergy’s latest research has revealed.
Charities come second in a list of ten sources according to nfpSynergy, after family and friends, and just before the BBC, TV news channels and news websites, with 65% of the public trusting them a great deal or quite a lot as an accurate source of information. Charities are also seen as an ‘unbiased and impartial’ source of trusted information, again coming second after family and friends and before the BBC, TV news channels, and news websites, with 53% of the public trusting them a great deal or quite a lot.
When asked who were trusted sources of commentary on UK policy, the research shows people who run charities are in the top five after healthcare professionals, scientists, and academics and just above economists. British politicians were fourth from bottom. Charities were trusted a great deal or quite a lot by 42% of the public, compared to 19% for politicians. This has increased from 31% in 2016, while during the same period big business has dropped from 26% to 21% as a trusted source of policy commentary.
Research into the public’s trust in charities in a number of other areas indicates that charities are also trusted to make a positive impact on UK society with 64% of those questioned trusting them quite a lot or a great deal, and to fundraise appropriately (61%), with lesser levels of trust in areas including spending donations wisely (57%) and using the personal data of their supporters responsibly (53%).
This is the first report in a new strand of research for nfpSynergy, which has been introduced to try and understand what charities are trusted to do and how they are trusted compared to other sectors in areas such as policy. It was carried out online with 1,000 members of the public representative by age gender and social class. The majority of this research was carried out in February of this year, with the public’s trust levels in charities in these other areas dating back to October 2016.
Advertisement
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.