Trust in

charities
Summer 2016
update

July 2016

www.nfpsynergy.net

Title

www.nfpsynergy.net

Key findings

Trust in charities rose from 48% in Autumn 2015 to 55% in Spring 2016

In the list of trusted public institutions, charities have risen from 12th
place just 6 months ago to 9th place this spring.

Charities are now ahead of supermarkets, the BBC and TV & Radio
stations, and just behind the Royal Family in levels of trust

Trust by the 55-64 year-olds has risen from just 41% last autumn to
56% this spring. Trust in charities by the under 24s remains high but
unchanged over the last 6 months.

The latest wave of nfpSynergy research in trust in charities and other public institutions shows that charities
have recovered from the media coverage in the second half of 2015 (see chart 1 and chart 2).
The number of people from a nationally representative sample of the UK public of 10001 who said they
trusted charities a great deal or quite a lot has increased from 48% last Autumn to 55% this spring (see
chart 3).

Chart 1: Trust in institutions

Very little

Not much

Not sure

Quite a lot

A great deal

The Armed Forces

Haven't heard of

-9%-16%

The NHS

-9% -20%

Schools

-8% -27%

Scouts and Guides

-8% -22%

The Royal Mail

-9% -28%

Small businesses

-8% -25%

44%
44%

45%

40%

-17% -20%

37%

-12% -25%

TV and radio stations

-12%

-41%

Supermarkets

-14%

-40%

14%
12%

48%

-13% -27%

-17% -27%

11%

43%

The Police

The BBC

24%

47%

The Royal Family

Charities

25%

8%
14%
18%

45%
38%
36%
33%

10%
12%
5%
6%

Below is a list of public bodies and institutions. Please indicate, by ticking in the appropriate column, how much trust you
have in each of the bodies
Base: 1,000 adults 16+, Britain.
Source: Charity Awareness Monitor, May 2016, nfpSynergy

SOURCE: nfpSynergys Charity Awareness Monitor, which regularly surveys a representative sample of 1000 16+ year

olds throughout mainland Britain, asking them a range of charity-related questions. Data was used from the May 2016
wave.

Title

www.nfpsynergy.net

Chart 2: Less trusted public institutions

Very little

Not much

Not sure

Quite a lot

A great deal

Legal system

-20%

The Church

-29%

Civil Service

-19%

Banks

-23%

Trade Unions

-25%

The Fundraising Standards Board (FRSB)

-35%

31%

-27%

27%

-33%

-40%

25% 5%

-34%

24% 6%
20% 6%

-12% -24%
-31%

-37%

21% 3%

Newspapers

-35%

-38%

18% 3%

-42%

Multinational companies

-31%

Political parties

-32%

16% 4%

-39%

-50%

6%

25% 5%

Insurance companies

Government

7%

27% 9%

-38%

-31%

Local Authorities

Haven't heard of

-30%

14% 3%

9% 3%

Below is a list of public bodies and institutions. Please indicate, by ticking in the appropriate column, how much trust you
have in each of the bodies
Base: 1,000 adults 16+, Britain.
Source: Charity Awareness Monitor, May 2016, nfpSynergy

Chart 3: Charities trust has recovered now

charities are out of the news
100%

FRSB/ The Fundraising Standards Board (FRSB)

80%

70%
65%
60%

65%

64%

Charities

66%

59%

58%

56%

53%

51%

55%
53%

48%

22%

26%
25%

42%

40%

28%
20%

22%

20%

20%

16%

19%

21%
15%

15%

19%

0%
Sep-06 Jul-07

Jul-08 Nov-08 Jul-09

Jan-10 Jan-11

Jul-11 May-12 May-13 Apr-14 Apr-15 Oct-15 May -16

Below is a list of public bodies and institutions. Please indicate, by ticking in the appropriate column,
how much trust you have in each of the bodies A great deal or quite a lot
Base: 1,000 adults 16+, Britain.
Source: Charity Awareness Monitor, May 2016, nfpSynergy

The changes over time are shown in chart 4, providing a graphic illustration of the volatility of trust in certain
public institutions.

Title

www.nfpsynergy.net

So while between 2009 and 2016, trust in the NHS started the period at 67% and finished it at 67% with a
high and low within a few percentage points. Newspapers followed the same pattern, while banks, political
parties and government all show a considerable rise.
Banks are a case in point. In 2009 they had trust totalling just 12%, more than 50 percentage points lower
than charities. But by 2016, trust in banks was rising and in charities falling, the difference in trust between
the two was as low as 15 percent last autumn. (See chart 4)
Joe Saxton said

This increase in trust in charities is encouraging news. Trust in charities has bounced back after
the onslaught of last year. This suggests that many parts of the UK public do want to trust
charities, and when the negative messages stop their trust returns.

Chart 4: Trust in various public institutions

since 2009
Charities

Banks

Political Parties

Government

Newspapers

The Church

The BBC

The NHS

68%

67%
65%

56%
50%
44%
36%

33%

30%
21%

22%

12%

12%
7%
3%
Jul-09

Jan-10

Jan-11

Jul-11

May-12

May-13

Apr-14

Apr-15

Oct-15

Apr-16

Below is a list of public bodies and institutions. Please indicate, by ticking in the appropriate column,
how much trust you have in each of the bodies A great deal or quite a lot
Base: 1,000 adults 16+, Britain.
Source: Charity Awareness Monitor, Apr 2016, nfpSynergy

However there is no room for complacency. Trust in charities is not built on a bed rock of
understanding, but on the shifting sands of misunderstandings and rose-tinted ignorance. When the
public see how 21st century charities operate many dont like it. We have to improve public
understanding, make it easier for the public to find out what matters to them about charities, and
explain, explain, explain why many of the features of modern charities are not mis-guided, but
critical to their success. Equally we need to amend charity behaviour to improve standards of
fundraising, governance, leadership and communications.
Last time we reported that in terms of age, trust in charities has broadly risen and fallen among all the age
groups simultaneously. Not this time. While younger people tend to trust charities, 16-24 year olds being the
most trusting age group with 61%, this has not changed at all since last Autumn. It is the older age groups
where we have seen the biggest bounce-back (see chart 5).

Title

www.nfpsynergy.net

Trust amongst the 44-54s year-olds has increased by 8 percentage points, amongst the over 65s has
increased by 11 percentage points (42% to 53%) and amongst 55-64 year olds has increased by a whopping
15 percentage points (41% to 56%). Last time we observed that the group who trust the least are the core
group for charity income- 55-64 year olds. Therefore it is very good news that this time they have bounced
back so strongly.

About nfpSynergy
nfpSynergy (www.nfpsynergy.net) is a research consultancy dedicated to the not-for-profit
sector. They aim to provide the ideas, the insights and the information to help non-profits thrive.
They provide a unique insight into the social and charity-related views of everyone from public
and parliament to media and business, not to mention not-for-profit organisations themselves.
For further comment from nfpSynergys Joe Saxton, please contact him directly on 07976 329
212 or joe.saxton@nfpsynergy.net

26 Tenter Ground
Spitalfields
London E1 7NH
020 7426 8888
insight@nfpsynergy.net
twitter.com/nfpsynergy
facebook.com/nfpsynergy
linkedin.com/company/nfpsynergy
www.nfpsynergy.net