Public trust in charities and the role and experience of trustees
Published 18 January 2024
Applies to England and Wales
© Crown copyright 2024
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Summary
For over ten years, the Charity Commission has conducted a comprehensive research programme. During that time we have generated a rich seam of insight into public perception of the charity sector, and on how charity trustees undertake their vital roles and responsibilities so that their impact is felt by the people and causes who need their help most.
Increasing public trust and promoting compliance amongst charity trustees are not just in our statutory objectives, but drive our reason for being. We have a commitment to supporting charities, through guidance, so that trustees can manage their charities well and in line with the law. We play an equally central function in providing the general public with relevant, reliable information about individual charities and how they run.
For the first time this page brings together our most important findings from the research programme, to help understand what has been working well and the relevant lessons, both for charities and for us as the Commission in our regulatory approach. Encouragingly, we can see that public trust in charities has been recovering and stabilising at a time where trust in other institutions, such as police and government, decreased. We have also gained further insight into the key factors that drive trust and used this information to better support trustees with their role and responsibilities.
Public trust in charities
We’ve been evaluating trust in charities for over a decade to understand what drives it and how charities and their regulator can foster it.
This shows that:
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public trust in charities is nuanced and complex, driven by good regulation but also the actions and behaviours of individual charities
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negative actions by one charity can have an affect on perception of charities generally
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not everyone thinks of ‘charities’ as the same thing or values them in the same way
Public trust in charities is stabilising
Charities saw a significant fall in public trust in 2016-18. Concerningly, at one point they were less well trusted by the general public than an ‘ordinary person in the street’. But headline trust in charities has recovered since 2018, while many other institutions have seen falls in trust in the last couple of years. As a result, charities are now more trusted than most other institutions, more than the police, but less than doctors.
Mean trust by sector
The below data shows results from the previous four surveys, and the trend since the 2016 and 2018 comparator surveys. See Public trust in charities 2023 for additional data.
Table view:
| Sector | 2016 | 2018 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doctors | 7.6 | 7.6 | 7.3 | 7.7 | 7.2 | 7.1 |
| Charities | 5.7 | 5.5 | 6.2 | 6.4 | 6.2 | 6.3 |
| Police | 7.0 | 7.1 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 5.8 | 5.5 |
| Banks | 5.1 | 5.2 | 5.5 | 5.8 | 5.6 | 5.6 |
| Ordinary person on the street | 5.8 | 5.9 | 5.5 | 5.6 | 5.5 | 5.5 |
| Private companies | 5.1 | 5.1 | 5.1 | 5.3 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Newspapers | 4.0 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 4.0 |
| MPs | 3.9 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 4.0 | 3.4 | 3.3 |
Trust in charities differs based on personal circumstances
University educated professionals in cosmopolitan areas
As compared to the other groups, on average these communities:
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have the highest trust in charities overall
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have the greatest trust that donations and financial assets are well-used by charities
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have the highest support for charities campaigning to influence change
Economically comfortable business managers & owners predominantly outside cities
As compared to the other groups, on average these communities:
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have above average trust in charities overall (but this is also true for trust in the other institutions we measure)
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are less likely to describe charities and their work as important or essential
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are less supportive of charities campaigning to influence change
Less well-off people in densely populated & diverse areas
As compared to the other groups, on average these communities:
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have average trust in charities overall (which is greater than the very low trust they have in the other institutions we measure)
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are most likely to have received at least one form of assistance from a charity each year and are also more likely to place value on the importance of charities and the work that they carry out
Blue collar workers in rural areas and small, traditional market towns
As compared to the other groups, on average these communities:
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have the lowest trust in charities overall (but they are more confident in the smallest, community charities than they are in larger charities)
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they are likely to have greater scepticism that donations and financial assets are well-used by charities
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are least supportive of charities campaigning to influence change
Generally, we see that people in more well-off communities are more likely to have trust in charities than people in less well-off ones. And people from more diverse communities tend to have higher support for the idea of charities campaigning on issues affecting them. See Public trust in charities 2023 for further information.
Even in the context of the generally positive recovery of in public confidence, the rise is not uniform across all of society. This is driving a ‘trust gap’ across communities; where the most well-off and diverse communities have the highest trust in charities; the least well-off and diverse communities have the lowest trust.
This ‘trust gap’ highlights that charities might have a harder task in engaging certain communities over others. This is the case for other institutions as well (for example doctors, government) so is not solely a ‘charity problem’. It does, however, mean that trust can never be taken for granted.
Responsible use of funds remains the most important factor in trust
Across all sectors of society there is consensus that to demonstrate trustworthiness, charities need to show that they:
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use funds responsibly – with donations being spent highly efficiently, prioritising the services, activities and people that advance the charitable cause
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make a positive difference (have an impact) through their work
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consistently follow and apply ethical values and principles in every aspect of their work
Ensuring that the money is used well is consistently reported as the most important factor of trust in charities. People want to know their money is making a difference on the front line.
There are different factors affecting public perception of charities
For many people, the actions of one charity can have a negative influence on their perception of other charities – particularly if there is a failing that puts people and funds in harm’s way. This is why the Commission’s role as regulator of the sector is important – our goal is to prevent wrongdoing and give confidence that charities are accountable and responsible for their actions, good and bad.
The public differentiates between large national or international charities and small local charities, and feel a particular connection to causes as much as organisations. We found that 40% of people questioned are more likely to trust a charity that focused on their local area, compared to 19% who are more likely trust a charity that does work across the country.
This is likely to be because local charities champion familiar causes to those in the communities they serve and deliver visible local impact. This can generate resilience to wider reputational scandals or shocks that can – fairly or unfairly - alter perceptions of the bigger charities.
People believe charities are making an impact
There has been little change since the pandemic in the proportion of people who have confidence in the most important trust factors of charities achieving impact and directing money to supporting those they are trying to help.
Table view:
| Charities are… | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Making an impact | 72% | 73% | 72% | 73% |
| Well run | 62% | 64% | 61% | 63% |
| Operating to ethical standards | 61% | 64% | 59% | 61% |
| Delivering a high proportion of the money they raise to those who they are trying to help | 57% | 59% | 56% | 59% |
| Treating their people well | 51% | 52% | 49% | 51% |
The role of trustees
Trustees are the people responsible for directing and governing charities. In most cases, they take on this responsibility for the benefit of their communities and wider society, as unpaid volunteers.
Views of trustees are largely aligned with the public
Our research shows that trustees and the public do not have inherently different world views. They have almost identical views on whether charities should have the same or higher standards than other organisations, and whether charities should campaign for changes that support their aims.
They differ slightly on some specifics such as what is acceptable pay for senior charity staff, and as with the public there are some differences across different regions of the country and the type of charity they run. Yet none of their views are fundamentally opposed.
Trustees’ understanding of their responsibilities is good, but there are key gaps
Our research shows where trustees have high confidence about their role:
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98% of trustees said they were very, or fairly, confident about governing their charity
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they are similarly confident about protecting their charity and its beneficiaries from wrongdoing and harm
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over 90% understand that they are responsible for ensuring that all the charity’s activities help to fulfil its purpose
This confidence is welcomed, but when we look at trustees’ understanding of their role, there are some important gaps, suggesting some of that confidence may be misplaced.
There are some areas where a significant minority of trustees need to refresh their understanding
Around one in five have not fully appreciated that as the key decision-making body, responsible for governing and directing the charity, they are collectively responsible for critical functions and cannot wholly delegate that overall responsibility. In particular there is less comfort on financial oversight, including for the charity’s annual accounts.
Further, only around 75% of trustees could correctly identify what is, and is not, a conflict of interest (a situation where personal interests may conflict with the charity’s best interests) when presented with different scenarios. This is an area where charities can get things very wrong.
Running a charity is not easy and we are very pleased that trustees reporting a good understanding are still by far and away in the majority. Given the fundamental importance of these key legal responsibilities though, there is room for improvement. With our new 5-minute guides, and associated awareness-raising campaigns, we work with the sector to strengthen trustees’ understanding of their responsibilities, particularly for financial oversight and reporting, decision making, and dealing with conflicts of interest.
How the Charity Commission supports trustees and builds public trust
Over the past few years, we have focused our efforts on supporting trustees in their role to better build public trust. Our research shows that those trustees who use Commission guidance are consistently better informed about their role and responsibilities.
Alongside supporting trustees, we adopt tangible ways to build public trust. The first is to continue to raise charity awareness of what drives public trust, providing them with the insight and tools to take on board lessons.
The second is to strengthen efforts to direct the public consistently to our charity register. As this is such a rich source of data, we know this can support charities because it raises public confidence that information is reliably reported – it serves as a tool for overall accountability, delivering both financial transparency and is a route for sharing evidence of impact. Over 80% of the public say they think that the register of charities is a good source of information about a charity. It is also well used – with more than 3.5 million visiting each year, and over 45 million pages viewed. We can see that registered charity status has a strong positive influence on expectations that a charity will demonstrate that it is delivering against each of the key elements of perceived trustworthiness.
In the context of the Charity Commission’s upcoming Strategy for 2024-2029, we will continue raising awareness of our own work and role in supporting charity effectiveness through regulation. Our research shows that awareness of the Commission has a positive influence on public trust in charities. Our commitment to helping charities to get it right, as well as intervening swiftly and robustly where things go wrong, combines with the enthusiasm, capability and generosity of trustees to maintain the vital role each charity plays in our society.