News & Insight

8th February 2022

Here’s to 2022 – this year’s giving trends

Like so many of our friends and clients, as we edge into 2022 we’re full of optimism for a new way of living with the perils of Covid but also cautious about the hurdles ahead for rebuilding our organisations and our communities.

There are major challenges for so many of our clients, particularly those in the arts reliant for their existence on the loyalty of audiences, and for those charities doing crucial work with vulnerable people who will remain affected by the ravages of Covid. We are also mindful that many of us are grieving loved ones lost over the last two years and making adjustments to our lives to accommodate new ways of working.

And yet the generosity of donors continues, albeit with some changes. The determination of inspirational leaders to make changes in our society is stronger than ever. And at the Philanthropy Company we are growing our team and our impact.

Thinking about the year ahead we have looked back at the trends identified by others including some of the very useful stats from the CAF UK Giving Report 2021. 

They have found:

• Overall, 35% of people indicated making at least one change to how they donate as a result of Covid. Of those interviewed, 13% reported donating to charities supporting the NHS, whilst 4% redirecting their donations towards charities responding to the pandemic. 
• However the number of people donating remains below average, even as the economy reopens. Despite initial above average donation levels in the spring lockdown 2020, there was a significant decline in the second half of 2020 with this trend continuing into 2021.
• More cheerfully, although fewer people are giving to charity, those who are making donations are giving more. The pandemic appears to have progressed the trend towards fewer people making larger donations. The average monthly donation has remained moderately higher for most of 2021 compared to pre-pandemic levels.
• With Covid restrictions in place, cash giving nearly disappeared in 2020 and remained below historic levels in 2021, with more donors opting for contact-free, digital methods. Approximately 49% of online donors gave through charities’ websites and 17% gave on social media. The increase in donations through websites and apps did not remain at such a high level, whereas debit cards donations did remain high for much of 2021. According to Global Trends in Giving Survey 80% of all gifts were made digitally.

We have also noticed the following

• For many arts organisations giving remained buoyant even during lockdown. Many of our clients worked with us to pivot their activities from fundraising to stewarding loyal donors and supporters and, as a result, loyal supporters continued to give
• We had the privilege of working with the family of Captain Tom last year to support the new Captain Tom Foundation – we think the response from the public to inspirational individuals will continue. Captain Tom was a unique and extraordinary man but we also notice the impact of Marcus Rashford and Max Woosey
• And we all switched to zoom…remember those early meetings which were zoom bombed by cats, children, parcel deliveries and in one memorable moment for our team someone’s partner in his underpants…now we take it all in our stride and predict it will continue
• We all know about the ‘Great Resignation’ but this rings too in our world too. So many people changing jobs, homes even countries. Charity Jobs reported more job vacancies on their website at Christmas than ever before..so this year if you have someone good in your fundraising team make sure you keep them! We often work with newly promoted fundraising leaders to provide a bit of support or mentoring whilst they step into their roles and this is much more cost effective than recruiting afresh – and better for donor relationships!

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