Public trust in charities up but levels are lower for fundraisers, Charity Commission survey suggests
Melanie May | 13 July 2017 | News
Public trust in charities is up but fundraisers themselves are not trusted as much as charities, research by the Charity Commission suggests.
The 2017 Trust and Confidence in the Charity Commission survey shows that the charity sector is well trusted by the public compared to other sectors, with a score of 6.3 on a scale of 0-10. This is comparable with the level of trust and confidence the public has in schooling and childcare (6.7) and the food and drink industry (6.4) but not quite as high as the level of trust and confidence in educational institutions (7.0).
The survey sought views separately on the charity sector and the fundraising industry, with findings seeming to indicate different levels of trust in charities and fundraisers. Among the public, the charity sector is more trusted than the fundraising industry, which scored 5.8, while charities also seem to trust fundraisers less. The findings show that charities trust their sector more than any other at 7.3, while suggesting a slightly lower level of trust and confidence in fundraisers than the public has, at 5.5.
The Commission’s decision to separate ‘charities’ and the ‘fundraising industry’ in the survey sparked some debate on social media:
Does it seem odd to anyone else that public are asked to rate trust in 'the fundraising industry' and 'charities' as if two separate things? https://t.co/8WRllOxrnr
— Daniel Fluskey (@danielfluskey) July 12, 2017
Advertisement
Views on regulation were also examined in the survey. The majority – 58% – of the public feel charities are regulated effectively: a slight drop from 2015’s level of 65%. In addition, 41% of the public feel there is the right amount of regulation while almost a third (32%) feel there is currently too little. In contrast, among the charities questioned, just over half (55%) feel there is the right amount with 16% feeling there is too little.
In terms of how the Charity Commission itself is viewed, levels of public trust and confidence remain steady at 6.0: the same as in 2015. A majority of charity respondents also give the Charity Commission a positive trust and confidence rating of 8-10 (66%, vs. 74% in 2015), although charities’ average trust and confidence score in the Commission has slightly declined since 2015 (7.8/10 vs. 8.3). 59% of the public agree that the Charity Commission’s role is ‘essential’ and a further 29% identify it as ‘very important’. Charities believe that the Commission is performing best on supporting trustees (7.8/10) and acting with authority and expertise (7.7/10).
The survey questioned 1,002 members of the public with Computer Aided Telephone Interviews, 1,015 charities online, and 26 stakeholders through in-depth telephone interviews (charities, Government officials, umbrella bodies and professional advisors).
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.