Almost three quarters of charities say they “steer well clear of political issues” amid “political pressure at a national level on the way charities campaign or lobby”, according to latest research.

But a divide has emerged within the charity sector around campaigning.

Small charities, those in rural areas and older organisations are among those less likely to take part in campaigning than their larger, city-based counterparts that have formed more recently.

Charities in affluent areas are also less likely to get involved in political campaigning than those in areas of disadvantage.

The findings have been revealed in the latest publication from the Third Sector Trends in England and Wales survey project, produced by Durham University and the Community Foundation Tyne &Wear and Northumberland.

This found that charities based in the poorest areas are “almost twice as likely to engage in political issues”. While two in five charities in poorer areas politically campaign, the proportion drops to one in five among those in richer areas.

It has also emerged that four in five micro charities say they eschew political campaigning, compared to just under three in five of the largest charities.

Meanwhile, four in five local neighbourhood level charities avoid political issues, compared to seven in ten charities that work at a wider level.

More than three quarters of charities in towns and rural areas avoid political campaigning. This proportion falls to just under two thirds among city-based charities.

Elsewhere, older charities “are more reticent about getting involved in politics”. Four in five of those set up before 1945 avoid politics, while just over two thirds of those that launched after 2000 do not campaign on political issues.

Impact of campaigning

But the research suggests service users and beneficiaries of charities not involved in campaigning are missing out.

Among campaigning charities more than a third believe they make a “strong contribution” to improving the health and wellbeing of those they support. But this proportion falls to less than a fifth among non-campaigning charities.

Similarly more than a third of campaigning organisations say they give people confidence to manage their lives, while only just over a sixth of non-campaigners believe they make a strong contribution on this issue.

Elsewhere, just under a third of campaigners say they are reducing social isolation among their beneficiaries, compared to under a fifth of non-campaigners.

Also, a fifth of campaigners believe they are increasing people’s pride in their community. This drops to to one in ten among non-campaigners.

Chilling effect

A reticence to take part in campaigning comes amid “political pressure at a national level on the way charities campaign or lobby”, which “has proven to be an unwelcome intrusion in established sector culture and practice”, according to researchers.

However, report author Tony Chapman, who is an honorary professor at Durham University, said: “I remain unconvinced that the pronouncements of leading politicians are having a fundamental ‘chilling’ effect on the willingness of charities in the UK to campaign or attempt to influence social and public policy.

“For the present, my feeling is that many charities, especially at the local level, are simply maintaining a watching brief in what currently looks like the dying days of the present administration.”

He also welcomes recent clarification from the Charity Commission that legally charities have a right to engage with politics, as long as it is to further their aims, as well as action by charity sector bodies, including NCVO and ACEVO, “to defend these interests”.

A survey published in March 2023 by social action campaign group Sheila McKechnie Foundation found that more than seven in ten charities believe politicians “have become more hostile” to campaigning.

Share Story: