Charities dismiss ‘donation slump’

The Institute of Fundraising has dismissed an official report showing that charity donations have crashed by 20% – and £2.3bn in real terms – claiming its members are reporting that giving has increased or remained flat.
The UK Giving 2012 survey, published last week by the Charities Aid Foundation and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, says that total donations in 2011/12 were down by 20% on 2010/11 figures, to £9.3bn.
The report, based on a survey of more than 3,000 people by the Office for National Statistics, says donations were down £1.7bn on the previous year in cash terms and £2.3bn when adjusted for inflation.
But Institute of Fundraising chief executive Peter Lewis said that the figures did not match the experiences of its members. He said: “This is an interesting new set of data and we need to look at it more carefully and do some analysis to see what is behind the reported decline in giving.
“As far as we are aware, it doesn’t reflect the experience of our members. Charities that have spoken to us say that they have had an increase or giving has been flat at worst.
“Neither does it reflect the experiences of the small charities engaged in our programme funded by the Office for Civil Society, which has demonstrated that organisations that engage in fundraising are able to diversify their income.
“We are keen to understand the data behind the headlines, particularly what types of giving and what types of charity are affected.”

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