A think tank has welcomed news that giving from the UK’s wealthiest philanthropists has increased, but stressed that a lot more can be done.

The Sunday Times Giving List is to be published this weekend, but figures already released show that the 260 philanthropists traced donated a record £3.2bn in the past year.

The figure, published by Charities Aid Foundation this week, is a 20 per cent increase on the previous year.

New Philanthropy Capital said the record figure is welcome news, and many major donors are doing remarkable things with their giving.

However, in a statement the think tank noted that not all money pledged by high-net-worth individuals reaches their chosen charities or causes quickly.

As the list includes giving from wealthy donors to their own foundations, NPC said, the list is not necessarily a complete reflection of the money reaching charitable causes and activities.

NPC’s analysis last year of the top 50 UK foundations by assets showed that more than half of them have given away less than 5 per cent of their assets over the past three years. There were foundations that had given as little as 0.3 per cent of their assets, NPC said, and 13 of the top 50 had given less than 3 per cent.

“Second, while the UK is the most generous country in Europe, we still only rank eighth in the world for charitable giving, behind countries such as the US and Australia,” NPC’s statement read. “While there are cultural and other differences between the UK and US that explain some of this we can certainly strive to do better.”

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