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)
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
More on Facts and figures
- Charity Facts and Figures
- Key facts about charities in England and Wales
- Key facts about charities in Northern Ireland
- Key facts about charities in Scotland
- Voluntary income: who supports the sector?

