Despite assumptions that charitable giving would trail off after the record levels achieved following the Asian tsunami, UK donors gave an estimated £8.9bn last year, according to new research.

UK Giving 2005/06, published jointly by CAF and the NCVO, showed that giving was up from £8.2bn as reported in 2004/5. Despite this fact, the number of people overall has failed to show a marked increase with only 60% of the UK public giving to charity.

In addition the report found that a large proportion of donors are not giving tax effectively, with just 57% of people who give over £100 a month making use of Gift Aid. This, says CAF, equates to a loss of some £700 million in tax rebates each year.

The report is “encouraging,” said Greg Piper, research officer at NCVO. “Particularly when looking at the stability in the amount given and the potential for increase.” However, Piper was discouraged by the lack of tax efficient giving being used.

Vicki Pulman of Charities Aid agreed: “We would have really liked to have seen an increase in the amount of tax efficient giving happening,” she said. “It’s about realising how much money is readily available to charities to reclaim, and how much they aren’t [reclaiming it].”

Along with Piper, Pulman stressed that, especially given the data that people are giving a greater amount of money to charities than ever before, it is important to make the most of the money donated. “Especially with the high value donations, there is a high amount of money to reclaim there from tax efficient giving that isn’t being taken advantage of,” she said.

The report also revealed that younger donors, aged 24-35, are giving at greater rates with a rise of 5% in the past two years. The support going to overseas causes also increased, with the proportion of donors supporting international causes rising some 14 - 20%. Pulman believes that these two could be linked, as young people become more interested in world events and disasters. Non-traditional methods of giving, including online, donations received through text messages, and others could also be a reason for increases in the amount of younger donors, according to Pulman.