The survey showed that the number of adults donating to charity over the last 12 months has decreased from 76% in 2019 to 71% in 2020, with donations from females and those in the 65+ years age group being significantly higher. Cash remains the most popular method of donating to charity, with the Individual Giving Survey 2020 revealing that 68% of donors used this method. A small number of respondents (16%) indicated that they never donate to charity; a proportionally higher figure than that reported in Individual Giving 2019 (11%).
The most preferred digital method used by respondents to donate to charity was Direct Debit (78%). Online giving platforms e.g. Crowdfunding (18%) and PayPal (13%) were the second and third preferred methods of digital donation. Other findings showed that almost 1 in 6 (15%) respondents indicated that they would be likely to donate more money through one-off contactless payment. This was more likely in those aged 16-24 years (29%), followed by 25-34 years (17%) and those aged 35-49 years (15%). A large proportion of respondents (51%) who have donated via digital means in the last 12 months indicated that they preferred this method as it was easier to use, with 48% of respondents believing that donating digitally was more convenient. Several barriers to the use of digital methods of donation were cited by those who did not donate digitally and include; concerns around the security of their card (41%), don’t use/carry a card (27%) and a lack of understanding of how digital donations worked (14%) .
Individual Giving 2020 also showed an increase, from 4% in 2019 to 8% in 2020, in the number of respondents indicating they intended to leave a gift to charity in their will (i.e. informed a charity of their intention to leave a gift but not yet added it in to the will).
All the results from the Individual Giving Survey 2020 can he assessed here