Survey finds credit crunch affects donations 'only slightly'

A Europe-wide survey by Survey Sampling International (SSI) has found that the credit crunch affects charitable giving "only slightly". Three in four consumers still donate money or time to charities, with just one in ten consumers saying that they have stopped giving since the credit crunch and one in five respondents giving less as a result of economic difficulties.

A quarter of those surveyed said that they donated at least once a month, while another 25% gave once a year.

The survey found that the UK was "the most charitable nation" with 77% of respondents giving money to a good cause, closely followed by Spain (76%) and the Netherlands (72%).

In France 66% said they gave money to charities, and in Germany the figure was 61%.

Britons preferred to give by street collecting boxes rather than in response to direct mail or email appeals.

Across Europe more than 75% of respondents believed that charities should invest less in advertising and instead spend the money on their cause. Two thirds of all respondents stated that advertising did not affect their decision to donate and more than 20% said that advertising even puts them off giving altogether.

Celebrity supporters of charities have little impact, according to the survey. Nearly 70% of all respondents said a well known representative would not affect their decision to donate, with 15% claiming that celebrities would actually put them off giving.

Volker Andresen, European Marketing Director at SSI, said that it was encouraging "that although people are cutting back on everyday expenditure, Europeans won't be scaling down their charitable donations."

SSI surveyed 1,650 consumers who are members of its OpinionWorld online communities in the UK (330), Spain (330), Germany (330), France (330) and The Netherlands (330).

www.surveysampling.com