Charities Lose UK Public’s Trust - Survey
3 July 2014 at 11:45 am
The UK public’s trust in its charities has dropped for the first time since 2011, new data has revealed.
According to the latest Charity Awareness Monitor survey by nfpSynergy, a UK research consultancy dedicated to the Not for Profit sector, public trust in charities has fallen by 10 percentage points with only 56 per cent of people now trusting charities ‘quite a lot’ or ‘a great deal’, compared to 66 per cent in 2013.
The results also showed that on the most-trusted poll list, charities dropped to seventh on the list – beaten by schools, small businesses and the Royal Family.
It showed Armed Forces remain top with 70 per cent despite a fall of 8 per cent, while Scouts and Guides remain in the top three on 64 per cent. Only a quarter trust the Fundraising Standards Board, while 28 per cent have never heard of it, the survey found.
“Our research shows that trust in charities is highly volatile and can never be taken for granted,” nfpSynergy’s Founder, Joe Saxton, said.
“Having seen a rise in trust in 2012 and 2013, it has fallen from 66 per cent to 56 per cent this year. That’s the bad news and it’s hard not to wonder whether the revelations over CEO pay and some of the stories about alleged donations to terror groups in Syria have played their part.
“The good news is that our research shows that there are ways that every charity can reassure people that a donation is well spent.
“It’s clear that the role of the Charity Commission is absolutely central in building trust in charities. Charities need to scream and shout about how they are regulated as it’s a practical way that charities can try and boost their trust levels.”
The survey, which was based on a representative sample of 1000 16+ year olds throughout mainland Britain, also asked people to choose which statements would reassure them about making a donation or convince them a charity was doing a good job.
The results showed the Charity Commission had a huge role to play, with 70 per cent picking ‘every new charity has to be scrutinised before approval’ and 67 per cent wanting to see ‘every charity’s accounts on the Charity Commission’s website’.
It also showed 68 per cent want to see an annual review of a charity’s costs to keep them low and around 60 per cent of people wanted to see charities both chased to submit their accounts on time and forced to declare how many staff are paid more than £60,000.
