The number of people donating to charities has dropped to an almost two-year low, latest research has found.

This drop has been across a raft of good causes, including children’s charities, research into disease, NHS charities and those tackling poverty. While animal charities have seen slightly more donate over the last three months, they are down on the year.

The findings have emerged in the latest Donor Pulse report from online fundraising platform Enthuse. This found that the number of people donating has dropped over the last quarter from 75% to 71%, the lowest percentage of public giving since September 2021.

Enthuse found there had been a fall in giving among all ages, with the number of under 40s dropping slightly further than those over this age.

Enthuse points out that the period looked at covers three months to February this year and includes the Christmas fundraising period “which usually sees a jump in donations”.

Despite the overall fall in donor numbers, researchers found that support for mental health charities is stabilising at 16%, although still a “sharp drop” from 22% a year ago.

The only area to see a significant increase is overseas aid, largely due to public support for emergency support in war torn Ukraine and following the Earthquakes earlier this year in Turkey and Syria.

“This area has also almost doubled since this time last year, and in the last three months shows there has been a shift of focus for donors from UK charities to helping overseas,” said Enthuse.

The cost-of-living crisis is a major factor behind the dip in donors for many charities, with Enthuse finding that 59% of people feel worse off than they did six months ago.

The age groups “feeling the squeeze the most” are the over 40s in Generation X and among Baby Boomers, with 68% saying they feel worse off.

Fundraising events

Enthuse found that while there has been a downturn in donations, enthusiasm for fundraising events remains firm.

More than two fifths of the public (44%) say they are likely to take part in an event this year and a further 12% are undecided. This desire to take part is strong across all age groups, with 61% of those in Generation Z keen to take part, the most in any age group.

“While these remain challenging times, it is a positive sign to see so many people willing to get involved in fundraising events - led by younger age groups,” said Enthuse.

Enthuse founder Chester Mojay-Sinclare said that while “you can’t ignore the fact that there has been a drop in donations these past three months as people have found it more difficult to support charities financially” there are “positives to take forward for the rest of the year” such as the public’s strong appetite for fundraising events.

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