Approximately 67 percent of people in England said that they gave to charity in 2023/24, compared with 82 percent in 2013/14. In the provided time period, the share of people giving to charity has gradually declined, reaching a low of 63 percent in 2020/21.

People that were over the age of 65 were the most likely age group to give to charity in England and Wales in 2023/24, with 80 percent of the two oldest age groups giving to charity in the provided time period. By contrast, those aged between 16 and 24, the youngest age group surveyed, were the least likely to give to charity, at 49 percent.

Of people who have given to charity in England, the average amount which people gave in the month before being asked was 29 British pounds in 2023/24, compared with 20 pounds in 2014/15.

In 2021/22, approximately 66 percent of people in England gave to chairty in the four weeks prior to being interviewed. Five regions of England had around 67 percent of people giving to charity, while East Midlands had the lowest percentage of people giving to charity at 64 percent.

Provides annual information on Gift Aid repayments to charities, with counts of charities and total amounts of repayments of basic rate income tax. Previoulsy listed under 'Revenue-based Taxes and Benefits: Charitable donations and tax relief'.

Source agency: HM Revenue and Customs

Designation: National Statistics

Language: English

Alternative title: Gift Aid Repayments to Charities

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) is an omnibus survey that collects data from respondents in Great Britain. Information is gathered on a range of subjects, commissioned both internally by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and by external clients (other government departments, charities, non-profit organisations and academia).

One individual respondent, aged 16 or over, is selected from each sampled private household to answer questions. Data are gathered on the respondent, their family, address, household, income and education, plus responses and opinions on a variety of subjects within commissioned modules. Each regular OPN survey consists of two elements. Core questions, covering demographic information, are asked together with non-core questions that vary depending on the module(s) fielded.

The OPN collects timely data for research and policy analysis evaluation on the social impacts of recent topics of national importance, such as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the cost of living. The OPN has expanded to include questions on other topics of national importance, such as health and the cost of living.

For more information about the survey and its methodology, see the gov.uk OPN Quality and Methodology Information (QMI) webpage.

Changes over time

Up to March 2018, the OPN was conducted as a face-to-face survey. From April 2018 to November 2019, the OPN changed to a mixed-mode design (online first with telephone interviewing where necessary). Mixed-mode collection allows respondents to complete the survey more flexibly and provides a more cost-effective service for module customers.

In March 2020, the OPN was adapted to become a weekly survey used to collect data on the social impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the lives of people of Great Britain. These data are held under Secure Access conditions in SN 8635, ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, 2019-2023: Secure Access. (See below for information on other Secure Access OPN modules.)

From August 2021, as coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions were lifted across Great Britain, the OPN moved to fortnightly data collection, sampling around 5,000 households in each survey wave to ensure the survey remained sustainable.

Secure Access OPN modules

Besides SN 8635 (which includes the COVID-19 Module), other Secure Access OPN data includes sensitive modules run at various points from 1997-2019, including Census religion (SN 8078), cervical cancer screening (SN 8080), contact after separation (SN 8089), contraception (SN 8095), disability (SNs 8680 and 8096), general lifestyle (SN 8092), illness and activity (SN 8094), and non-resident parental contact (SN 8093). See the individual studies for further details and information on how to apply to use them.

In 2023/24, those who gave to charity in England were most likely to give between 20 and 49 pounds, at 31 percent of givers. Just 21 percent of people gave more than 50 British pounds.

Information on charitable donations

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner. Pledging campaigns, where individuals make a public commitment to act in a civic way, have been widely adopted by charities and policy-makers to help encourage charitable giving, but have been rarely tested as against a simple request. It is hard to infer from observational data whether pledging makes a difference. To overcome this problem, a randomised controlled trial on the effects of pledging was undertaken in Manchester, in partnership with the Community HEART charity. A total of 11,812 households in two electoral wards were sent information about an upcoming charity campaign to develop school libraries in South Africa: they were told that in a few weeks they would be asked to donate a children’s book. Households were randomly assigned to receive differently worded requests to test whether people are more likely to pledge and later donate if they are told their involvement will be made public. Further information on the project may be found on the ESRC's Rediscovering the Civic and Achieving Better Outcomes in Public Policy award page. This is an ESRC Ventures research programme, co-funded by the Department of Communities and Local Government and the North West Improvement and Efficiency Network. This particular project aimed to find out the most effective means to encourage active citizenship, using innovative experimental methods including randomised controlled trials and design experiments as well as survey re-analysis to understand the civic-outcome link. A previous study conducted under the same project is held at the UK Data Archive under SN 6874, How to Get Those Recycling Boxes Out: a Randomised Controlled Trial of a Door-to-Door Recycling Service, 2008. Main Topics: Variables in the data file include household identifier, pledge made and book donated, geographic units such as ward and Super Output Area, and population characteristics. Stratified random sample Compilation or synthesis of existing material Randomised controlled trial

There are 170,171 charities operating in England and Wales as of June 2024, a rise on the previous year when there were 168,850. Although the number of charities fell by almost 8,000 between 2008 and 2009, the number of charities climbed back to almost the same levels seen in 2007 by 2017.

Provides general information on all HMRC taxes, including tax receipts, the number of taxpayers, personal tax credits, child benefit and estimates of the cost of tax expenditures and structural relief.

Source agency: HM Revenue and Customs

Designation: National Statistics

Language: English

Alternative title: Revenue Based Taxes

Provides annual information on the repayments of tax and payments of tax credits to charities. Previously listed under 'Revenue-based Taxes and Benefits: Charitable donations and tax relief'.

Source agency: HM Revenue and Customs

Designation: National Statistics

Language: English

Alternative title: Repayments of Tax to Charities

The Third Sector Research Centre carried out research on the key issues affecting charities and voluntary organisations, community groups, social enterprises, cooperatives and mutuals.

This specific data collection contains organisational characteristics and financial history information from UK-based charities, non-charity organisation, mutual societies and co-operative organisations. Organisational characteristics include charities' area of operation, area of benefit and standard industrial classification 2007 system code (SIC07). These characteristics were extracted from: (1) information held by the Charity Commission for charities registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, (2) information held by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) for Scottish charities, (3) information on co-operative organisations operating in the UK held by CoopsUK, (4) information on Mutual Societies provided by the Financial Conduct Authority (these include Industrial and Provident Societies, credit unions, building societies and friendly societies). The dataset also contains cross-matches between organisations found in the different lists of these bodies. The financial history data contains income and expenditure data for charities registered with the Charity Commission for the period 1985 - 2006.

A further five data collections resulting from research by the Third Sector Research Centre can be accessed via related resources.

The Third Sector Research Centre (TSRC) is a Venture Funded Centre, in partnership with the Office for Civil Society and the Barrow Cadbury Trust. TSRC is based at the University of Birmingham, but is a joint venture with the University of Southampton, with additional contributions from Middlesex and Kent. Third sector policy has now been devolved to the separate administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and research includes analysis of the impact of this devolution. TSRC employs a Knowledge Exchange Team to ensure that its work has a direct impact on policy and practice. Research activity includes: (1) Analysis of theoretical issues and development of a critical understanding of the policy environment for the sector; (2) Securing and analysing reliable data about the size, shape, structure and dynamics of the sector - including quantitative data, drawn from administrative sources and large scale surveys, and in-depth qualitative research with a selection of sector organisations; (3) Analysis of the economic and social impact of the sector, including the role of the sector in delivering public services, the development of social enterprise, the role of organisations in the environmental field, and the mapping and analysis of smaller community organisations operating 'below-the-radar'.

In 2023/24, approximately 73 percent of women in England advised that they had given to charity, compared with 62 percent of men. Throughout this provided time period, a higher share of women gave to charity than men.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Community Life Survey (CLS) is a household survey conducted in England, tracking the latest trends and developments across areas key to encouraging social action and empowering communities, including: volunteering and charitable giving; views about the local area; community cohesion and belonging; community empowerment and participation; influencing local decisions and affairs; and subjective well-being and loneliness.

The CLS was first commissioned by the Cabinet Office in 2012. From 2016-17, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) took over responsibility for publishing results. During 2020, the DCMS also commissioned the Community Life COVID-19 Re-contact Survey (CLRS) (SN 8781) to provide data on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected volunteering, charitable giving, social cohesion, wellbeing and loneliness in England.

Background
Up to 2015-16, the survey used a face-to-face methodology. Following thorough testing (experimental online versions of the survey were released for 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16), the CLS moved online from 2016-17 onwards, with an end to the previous face-to-face method. The survey uses a push-to-web methodology (with paper mode for those who are not digitally engaged). The survey informs and directs policy and action in these areas;

• to provide data of value to all users, including public bodies, external stakeholders and the public; and
• underpin further research and debate on building stronger communities.

The Community Life Survey incorporates a small number of priority measures from the Citizenship Survey, which ran from 2001-2011, conducted by the then Department for Communities and Local Government. These measures were incorporated in the Community Life Survey so that trends in these issues could continue to be tracked over time. (The full Citizenship Survey series is held at the UK Data Archive under GNs 33347 and 33474.)

Further information may be found on the GOV.UK Community Life Survey webpage.

The Community Life Survey, 2020 -2021 covers April 2020 - March 2021 and forms 'Official Statistics', meaning that it meets the high standards of quality set out by the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

Further information may be found on the GOV.UK Community Life Survey, 2020/21 webpage.

The main topics include measures that are key to understanding our society and local communities such as volunteering, charitable giving, neighbourhood, civic engagement, social action and subjective well-being.

Provides annual information on the number of donors, amounts donated and cost of relief for the payroll giving scheme. Previously listed under 'Revenue-based Taxes and Benefits: Charitable donations and tax relief'.

Source agency: HM Revenue and Customs

Designation: National Statistics

Language: English

Alternative title: Payroll Giving