Wealthy donors use their heads as well as their hearts when it
comes to giving to charity
New survey reveals why the rich give
Release date: 27 Feb 2013
Wealthy donors reveal that evidence about the difference a charity makes and a
personal connection to a cause are the biggest influences when it comes to giving to
charity.
A survey by the charity Pilotlight found that while over 70% of philanthropists and city
executives said a personal link to a charity was behind their decision to donate,
nearly 60% said information on the impact of the charity’s work was a key factor.
The survey of over 160 business leaders and philanthropists across England and
Scotland revealed that 3 in 10 people have been motivated to give because of the
funding crisis facing charities, although just over a quarter (27%) said fundraising
campaigns influenced their decision.
This comes at a time when recent reports from the Charities Aid Foundation and the
National Council for Voluntary Organisations have highlighted the fall in donations
with £1.7 billion less being given in 2011/12 (donations fell to £9.3bn).
Pilotlight, which has been working for over ten years to bring together senior
business leaders with small charities to make both more effective, believes its poll
reinforces the need for charities to measure their impact and be more business-like.
Pilotlight’s chief executive, Fiona Halton, says:
‘Clearly donors now want more evidence of the impact a charity is having on the
communities they serve. It’s also important they are told how their donation
contributes to the charity and makes an even bigger difference. With donations
falling, charities need to be actively measuring their impact and talking about it, if
they want to attract donations of both time and money.’
As the government looks to increase levels of volunteering Pilotlight found that while
90% of business executives engaged with a charity like Pilotlight to ‘give something
back’, 60% also joined for their own professional learning and development.
Volunteering with charities through Pilotlight also led to nearly 40% of people
increasing the amount they gave to a charity and over 20% increased the amount of
time they spent volunteering.
Managing Director of Schuh and joint founder of the Schuh Trust, Colin
Temple, says:
‘It’s very easy to write a cheque and give to a big charity but I think you need to do
your homework when it comes to giving and really find out where you will have an
enduring impact. At the trust we look for small charities that may be struggling to get
funding but we know their project will make a real difference.’
Dr Beth Breeze, Director of the Philanthropy Centre at the University of Kent,
says:
‘This research usefully emphasises the key drivers of charitable giving. People
respond subjectively to the issues that touch their lives, and are motivated to help
when a cause speaks to their personal passions and experiences.’
– ENDS –
Notes to editor:
For further information or to request an interview, please contact: Gemma Davidson
at Pilotlight on M:07986 396571 L:020 7396 7414 or gdavidson@pilotlight.org.uk
The survey
Key findings:

Over 70% (71.78%) of philanthropists and city executives said they were
motivated to give because of a personal connection to a cause while nearly
60% (58.90%) said information on a charity’s impact was important

3 in 10 people were motivated to give because of the funding crisis facing
charities

Just over a quarter (27%) said fundraising campaigns influenced their
decision to give

90% of business executives joined a charity like Pilotlight to ‘give something
back’, while 60% also joined for professional learning and development

Volunteering with charities through Pilotlight led to nearly 40% (36.81%)
increasing the amount they give and 22% increased the time they spent
volunteering

Nearly three-quarters (74%) said engaging with charities had increased their
appreciation of the work of the voluntary sector and over 60% said they
wanted to use their skills to benefit charities
Background:
Pilotlight surveyed all its 275 active business volunteers, ‘Pilotlighters’, for two weeks during
November 2012 using an online survey software, ‘Smart-Survey’. The survey closed on
Wednesday, 21st November 2012. The data was anonymised.
The response rate was 163/275 respondents, so 59.3%. Pilotlight asked a total of 25
questions, meaning the survey took a maximum of 15 minutes to complete.
Out of the 163 respondents:
 41 (25.15%) were female and 122 (74.85%) were male.
 123 (75.46%) were members of Pilotlight in London, and 40 (24.54%) were members
of Pilotlight in Scotland.
Pilotlight is a unique, capacity building charity offering free, tailored strategic
planning support to charities and social enterprises that are tackling disadvantage in
the UK. We match directors from charities and social enterprises with teams of
senior business people who coach them through the process of planning for
sustainability, development and growth. Each charity and social enterprise also has
a dedicated Pilotlight project manager who coordinates and facilitates the process.
We are currently working with over 70 charities and social enterprises across the UK.
Within a year of working with Pilotlight charities increase their income, on average,
by 50 per cent and are able to double the number of people they reach.
For more information please visit our website, www.pilotlight.org.uk.