Public donations dropped by nearly 10% between 2024 and 2025, says CAF research
Howard Lake | 16 March 2026 | News
The total amount donated to charity by the British public has fallen for the first time in five years, with an estimated £1.4 billion less donated last year, according to the Charities Aid Foundation’s (CAF) latest report.
The finding was announced today in the publication of CAF’s UK Giving Report, the UK’s longest running survey for household giving. The British public donated £15.4 billion to charities in 2024, and an estimated £14 billion in 2025.
According to “the state of the nation’s giving”, total giving has dropped before, but the latest figure comes against a background of the number of people giving to charity declining over 10 years. According to CAF, 69% of people gave to charity in 2016 but by 2025 that was down to 55%. Numerically that represents an average of 600,000 fewer donors in each of those years. It estimated the value of donations ‘lost’ to charities during the decade, if those donors had continued to give, at £12.4 billion.
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But the actual proportion of people who gave remained the same from 2024 to 2025 at 55%.
Nevertheless the average (mean) monthly donation was £65 in 2025, down from £72 in 2024. The typical (median) donation was £26, down slightly from £28 in 2024, so those who give are typically giving less. (These figures do not include legacy income).
“Can’t afford to give”
Based on CAF’s research, the main reason people do not donate to charity, cited by one in five (22%) people in the UK is because they cannot afford it. The approach is “common across all demographics”.
Other reasons that people give for not donating is they weren’t interested in charities (28%), rising to half (49%) of those who are higher and additional rate taxpayers.
There has been a notable drop in donors to overseas aid and disaster relief, falling from 19% of donors in 2016 to 11% in 2025. Consequently total donations to this cause have declined in real terms.
Why do people give?
For those who donate to charity, CAF reports that the majority are motivated by an emotional reason (78%), such as caring about the cause. Others say that they want to be part of something bigger (53%), such as supporting their community or “making a difference”.
So CAF is able to report that “giving has broadly kept up with inflation over the last decade”. Donations to some causes have beaten inflation since 2016.
In addition, direct debit and standing orders remain the most popular ways for the public to give, accounting for about a fifth of all donations.
Missed opportunities
Missed opportunities for growing giving include, as usual, a figure for Gift Aid.
Gift Aid was worth £1.7 billion to charities in 2025, but an estimated £560 million is left unclaimed each year. CAF cites Charity Finance Group’s research for the unclaimed amount.
Reviving the culture of giving?
Responding to the findings, Mark Greer, Managing Director of the Charities Aid Foundation, suggested that the UK needed a “collaborative effort” to revive the culture of charitable giving. He said:
“Giving falling by nearly 10% in a year will be a significant concern for charities up and down the country who are providing vital services to people in need. We have been relying on a declining number of dedicated donors, but the reality of this trend has begun to bite.
“We know that when people are engaged with charities, they support them generously and for many they want to be part of something greater than themselves.
“To support our communities, we need a collaborative effort to revive the culture of giving across the country. This includes exploring ways we can encourage donations from those that can afford to give, and policy action from the Government to unlock greater giving.”
The research was conducted for CAF by YouGov Plc. Findings for the calendar year 2025 are based on the responses of 12,913 individuals, unless otherwise indicated. “The sample is constructed in such a way that it is nationally representative of UK adults aged 16+ in terms of respondents’ sex, age, region/nation and social grade”.
You can download CAF’s UK Giving Report 2026 by registering for free at Charities Aid Foundation.
- Shape History on fundraising insights in CAF’s UK Giving Report 2025 (22 April 2025)
- CAF UK Giving report 2017 reveals £9.7 billion was donated in 2016 (13 April 2017)
- CAF UK Giving report 2019 shows drop in regular givers for third year running (7 May 2019)
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.