YouGov profiling has revealed the factors that make people more likely to donate to charity and, whilst age, religion and gender all play a part, the amount of disposable income does not.

This means having a higher amount of disposable income doesn’t make you more inclined to donate than those with less money to spare. In fact, people with £1-125 of disposable income were most likely to donate to charity in the next three months.

YouGov profiled 613 people who said they were ‘very likely’ to donate to charity in the next three months, and compared them to 744 people who were ‘not very likely’ or ‘not at all likely’ to donate.

The main findings reveal that:

• Those most likely to give in the next three months are older women, aged 55+. Looking at all women who said they would be likely to donate, 35% of them are aged 55+ (that’s more than a third).
  In contrast, only 16% of women unlikely to make a charity donation are aged 55+.
• Religious beliefs make you more likely to donate. 61% of likely charity donors said they are religious, whereas 67% of those unlikely to donate said they have no religion.
• Non-donors are most likely to be men under 55.
• 36% of those likely to donate to charity are retired, whereas only 20% of likely non-donors are retired.
• The cause of the charity motivates donors. 83% of those likely to donate said they ‘believe in the cause’;
  42% said they believe ‘you should give to charity’ (whereas only 8% of unlikely donors believe ‘you should give to charity’).
• 27% of likely donors have personal experience of the charity. However, unlikely donors said they had previously been motivated to give if they were sponsoring a friend (24%), whereas only 18% of likely donors were motivated by friendship.

Voscur’s takeaways for your marketing plans

These YouGov statistics can help inform your organisation’s marketing. Think about:

• Your target audience. If you’re aiming to reach people of all ages, gender identities, races, lifestyles and backgrounds, do your marketing materials reflect this? Constant images of only one demographic (such as young women, or two-parent families) can make other people feel irrelevant.
• The amount you ask for. We know money is tight for most people right now, but remind your audience that even small amounts make a difference. Show them what happens if 50 people give £2 each.
• Personal connections. Many people want to give back to a charity or community group when it has helped someone close to them, as they can personally relate. Money isn’t the only thing they can give – maybe they could be a case study for your website or social media, or they could volunteer as a speaker at an event.

If you don’t have a marketing plan in place, you need a refresh or you just want to know more about marketing and campaigns for your organisation in light of coronavirus, sign up now for our marketing and campaigns course on Wednesday 14 October.