01/02/10

By Andrew Holt

Three quarters of people say that trust in the charity and/or sector influences their decision to give, according to an online survey.

Trust in the organisation is more important than trust in the sector with 56% saying that trust in the charity and 42% reporting that trust in the sector was an influencing factor.

Trust in the organisation and/or the sector is most important for Scots where 82% reported that trust is a key influencer in their decision to give to charity, compared to 71% of people living in Wales & the West of England.

Trust is most prominently cited as an influencing factor for younger respondents where 8 in 10 of those aged 16-24 say it influences their giving.

The influence of trust upon giving declines in direct correlation as the age of respondents increases.

More than 6 in 10 (62%) of respondents say that they would trust a charity more if it were a member of the FRSB - the self-regulatory body for fundraising.

Meanwhile, 59% say they would trust the charity sector more if all charities were members of the FRSB.

Over a third (35%) agreed that they would donate more money to a charity if they knew it was an FRSB member. This percentage increased to 43% amongst younger respondents (aged 16-24).

Additional key findings include:

80% of respondents have given to charity in the last 12 months

65% have given in the last 3 months

63% of Scots have given to charity in the last month, compared to 48% in London

Over the past 6 months, almost 8 in 10 (78%) people in Scotland and 77% of those in Wales and the West have given to charity. During the same period, 70% of people in the East & West Midlands and two thirds (69%) of people in the North East/Yorks/Humber region and had donated .

Alistair McLean, chief executive of the Fundraising Standards Board, said: "It is interesting to see that Scots, who have been so rocked by fundraising scandals a few years ago, repeatedly indicate that trust is more important to them than in other regions. Trust also seems particularly important for younger donors, perhaps those who are yet to form a relationship with a charity."

Fundraising academic, Adrian Sargeant of Bristol Business School and Indiana University, added: "The results underline just how important it is for organisations to manage public trust."

The TNS OnLineBus survey, of more than 1,100 adults across Great Britain was commissioned by the Fundraising Standards Board (FRSB).