An annual publication provided an overview of the latest estimates and trends in individual charitable giving. The proportion of people giving had risen to 56 per cent, an increase of two percentage points on the previous year: but the total amount given had not yet returned to the pre-recession peak of 2007-08.
Source: UK Giving 2010: An overview of charitable giving in the UK, 2009/10, Charities Aid Foundation/National Council for Voluntary Organisations
Links: Report | CAF press release
Date: 2010-Dec
A government-commissioned report recommended a series of reforms to the Gift Aid scheme for charitable donations.
Source: Peter Fanning, Gift Aid Forum: Report to Economic Secretary to the Treasury, HM Treasury
Links: Report | HMT letter | CIOT press release
Date: 2010-Dec
The government published a Green Paper on ways to encourage a culture of charitable giving. It proposed a new role for itself as a 'facilitator of giving', making it easier for philanthropists, volunteers, and charities to form partnerships. It also said that it wanted to develop low-cost but effective ideas for large organizations to support charities. It published, alongside the Green Paper, a series of essays by 'respected leaders and thinkers' on the subject of giving.
Source: Giving: Green Paper, Cabinet Office
Links: Green Paper | Essays (links) | Cabinet Office press release | BBC report | Telegraph report
Date: 2010-Dec
A report said that the existing system for tax relief on charitable donations was outdated, resulting in around £750 million going unclaimed by charities each year. It set out a series of measures designed to overhaul the system.
Source: Asheem Singh and Samuel Middleton, Digital Giving: Modernising Gift Aid – Taking civil society into the digital age, ResPublica
Links: Report | ResPublica press release | Guardian report
Date: 2010-Sep
A report examined participation in formal and informal volunteering and trends in participation over time, using 2008-09 Citizenship Survey data. It also looked at trends in charitable giving. The numbers of people volunteering and donating to charity had fallen in the previous five years.
Source: Emma Drever, 2008-09 Citizenship Survey: Volunteering and Charitable Giving Topic Report, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: Report | Volunteering England press release | Guardian report | New Start report | Telegraph report
Date: 2010-Apr
A paper proposed two reforms designed to increase donations from the 'reasonably well-off' and invigorate smaller charities. The first reform would enable individuals to set up 'remainder trusts' in which sums of £50,000 or more could be settled: donors would retain control over the capital – and could reclaim it if they wished – during their lifetime. The second reform would involve the creation of a new type of charity – the 'personal charitable trust' – that would enjoy the benefits of 'light touch' regulation and offer donors the option of anonymity.
Source: Paul Palmer, A Step Change in UK Philanthropy, Centre for Policy Studies
Links: Paper | CASS press release
Date: 2010-Jan