Facts and figures

Voluntary income: who supports the sector?


In the U.K. there are two key sources of statistics about giving.

The National Council for Voluntary Organisations
Regent's Wharf, 8 All Saints Street, London N1 9RL
Press office: 020 7520 2468
Email:NCVO press enquiries

and the research team at:

The Charities Aid Foundation
25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent ME19 4TA
Tel: 01732 520000
Email: enquiries@cafonline.org

Income stream % of voluntary sector income
Public sector 38.0
General public 35.0
Internal 15.0
Voluntary sector 10.0
Private sector 1.0

Source: NCVO 2006 (The UK Voluntary Sector Almanac)

The NCVO and the Charities Aid Foundation figures show that 57.2% of the UK adult population give to charity in a typical month. The average UK adult gave £14.17 to charity per month in 2004/5. Medical research attracts more donors than any other cause, being supported by 34% of donors. Hospitals and hospices and young people's causes both attracted 23% of donors. 

In the UK the poorest 20% of society are significantly more generous than the wealthiest 20% of individuals. The fifth of society on the very lowest incomes give 3% of their income to charity, while the very wealthy give only 0.7%.

Work conducted by The Giving Campaign www.givingcampaign.org.uk concluded that charitable giving is most prevalent amongst those who live in council houses and least prevalent amongst high earners and affluent households. A higher proportion of the poor give than the wealthy.

As a consequence there is almost an inverse relationship between the prevalence of giving (i.e. the proportion of individuals who give) and the wealth of particular towns and cities:

Most charitable towns Wealth rank (1=rich, 114=poor) Least charitable towns Wealth rank (1=rich, 114=poor)
Sunderland 100 London 23
Blackpool 92 Harrow 10
Motherwell 89 Twickenham 20
Dundee 55 Kingston-upon-Thames 2
Newcastle-upon-Tyne 72 Ilford 33
Kilmarnock 60 Croydon 18
Liverpool 69 Southall 86
Oldham 81 Guildford 1
Paisley 49 Slough 5
Sheffield 83 St. Albans 3

Source: Giving Campaign and Experian 2004