The Charity Commission has been collecting data on public trust in charities since 2005.
This year, as part of the Charity Commission’s ongoing research they have been working with panels and focus groups in order to understand public trust in charities, what affects public trust in charities, and the public’s awareness and knowledge of the Charity Commission.
We set out below a summary of some of the key areas and findings – the full report can be found Here.
It is pleasing to see that in 2024, nearly 60% of those questioned said that they have high trust in charities, although 10% have very low trust. The public’s trust in charities has not changed in the last three years, in that it ranks very high compared to other organisations (banks, local councils, police, etc.), with only trust in doctors ranking higher than charities.
The focus groups found that low trust in charities stemmed from :
- Media (negative stories in the press, but specifically for a particular named charity),
- A bad experience of actual contact (e.g. doorstep callers),
- Charities having low visibility and reduced transparency of financial information and;
- Disagreement with the actions of charities.
High trust in charities tended to be due to :
- Increased knowledge of the Charity Commission,
- The size and nature of the charity (local, smaller charities tend to have higher trust),
- The charitable cause aligning with a person’s own views and being able to see the impact of that charity’s work to achieve its objectives and;
- Knowing that a charity is registered with the Charity Commission.
Around half of the public have heard of the Charity Commission, generally through media coverage, which tends to make them feel positive about the Charity Commission, with just 7% saying it left them feeling negative.
The majority of those asked didn’t have any suggestions for what more the Charity Commission could do to increase public trust. Of those that did comment, the main suggestions were:
- Transparency around finances,
- Limiting senior executive salaries,
- Increase of promotional information to explain their purpose, and;
- Taking tougher action against rogue/illegal charities and wrongdoing.
