Donor attitudes to giving in the credit crunch

Jonathan Waddingham, Charity Champion* at JustGiving sent me some research on donor attitudes in the UK, so an update. Data is from April.

Charities have raised over AUD$1bn through JustGiving so you'd hope he has good transactional data too... (I much prefer transactional data to opinion, but that's just my opinion).

Bottom line:

1. Slightly more people say they have been affected financially by the recent economic downturn (now 58%, 52% in Jan/Feb)
2. Slightly more say they are thinking harder about how much to give - now 57%, up from 47% in Jan/Feb.
3. The majority - 61% - are not reconsidering their gifts but 31% say they may consider giving a little less.

In summary:

"Throughout the first quarter of 2009, a number of trends have started to emerge. As time has gone on, more people have been affected by the credit crunch and, presumably as a consequence, reflected on their charitable giving as part of their personal finances. Encouragingly, more people have indicated that they will be giving more than those cutting back a lot, or stopping giving. However, in the last month, there has only been one large shift in the monitor – with more saying that they will be giving slightly less compared to March.

"We have seen over the first 3-4 months that more people are willing to cut down on household expenses than charitable giving, as well as the heartening statistic that 8% of those who have been affected by the economic downturn and thought harder are actually giving more. So whilst the downturn is certainly having an effect, the majority are still planning to give the same over the next three months, and the outlook is not as gloomy as many have predicted."

JustGiving are being a bit slack in publishing the latest info (I know, they are busy!) but email them to get the latest updates.

(*Imagine explaining to your mum that your job title is 'Charity Champion'. She'd be so chuffed.)