Research found that 4 out of 10 people gave less to charity than they would like to because they did not believe that their donation would reach the intended good cause.
Source: Press release 12 December 2005, GuideStar UK (020 7240 1969)
Links: Guidestar press release
Date: 2005-Dec
The total amount donated to charities in 2004-05 was estimated at 8.2 billion - equivalent to 170.02 per adult.
Source: Cathy Pharoah, Karl Wilding, Catherine Walker and Susan Wainwright, UK Giving 2004/05: Results of the 2004/05 survey of individual charitable giving in the UK, Charities Aid Foundation (01732 520000) and National Council for Voluntary Organisations
Links: Report | CAF press release
Date: 2005-Dec
The government announced (in the Pre-Budget Report) that "several hundred millions of pounds" sitting in forgotten bank accounts would be used for charitable projects such as youth services and financial education.
Source: Britain Meeting the Global Challenge: Enterprise, fairness and responsibility - Pre-Budget Report, Cm 6701, HM Treasury, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | HMT press release | BBA press release | NCC press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Dec
The government published a plan to promote charitable giving in England. Every secondary school in England would be provided with a charity account, with an initial 500: students would then be encouraged to undertake fundraising activities and distribute funds to recognized charitable causes.
Source: A Generous Society: Next steps on charitable giving in England, Active Communities Directorate/Home Office (020 7035 4413)
Links: Plan
Date: 2005-Nov
A paper examined understanding of the relationship between charitable giving among individual citizens and the tax relief available on their gifts. Few survey respondents could spontaneously describe the kinds of donation that attracted tax relief.
Source: Deborah Smeaton, Alan Marsh, Ruth Rajkumar and Andrew Thomas, Individuals' Donations to Charities and their Use of Tax Relief, Research Paper 9, HM Revenue & Customs (020 7438 6420)
Links: Paper (pdf)
Date: 2005-Jul
The government launched the Payroll Giving Grants Programme, under which small businesses would be offered cash incentives to introduce a payroll-giving scheme enabling staff to make regular donations to charity.
Source: Press release 26 January 2005, Payroll Giving Grants/Institute of Fundraising (020 7840 1000) and Business in the Community
Links: IOF press release | CAF press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Jan