CAF’s UK Giving Report 2026 offers a ten-year view of charitable giving in the UK: who is giving, how much, to what, and how that’s shifting over time. It cuts through the noise of monthly figures and headlines to show how public generosity has responded to economic pressure, social change and major events.
UK Giving Report 2026 (Charities Aid Foundation)What stood out to us
Generosity is resilient, but uneven. Overall giving has proved more resilient than many feared, but that resilience isn’t evenly distributed across causes, age groups or income bands. Some charities are experiencing growth; others are clearly not.
Cause loyalty and trust still matter more than clever tactics. People continue to prioritise causes they believe in and organisations they trust, even when their disposable income is under strain.
Short-term dips can hide long-term opportunity. The report highlights fluctuations from year to year that, if taken in isolation, could easily be misread.
Why this matters for leaders
It is easy for a tough year to harden into a story: “people just aren’t giving anymore.” CAF’s long view suggests that’s rarely true. The more accurate story is usually more uncomfortable: some organisations have kept pace with their audiences and context; some haven’t.
Generosity hasn’t vanished; people are simply more selective and more scrutinising.
For boards and executive teams, this is an invitation to separate signal from noise. The signal is not that generosity has vanished; it’s that people are more selective and more scrutinising. That puts pressure on clarity: clarity about why you exist, who you’re really for, and what difference another pound in your hands will make compared to elsewhere.
This is where external perspective is most valuable. When you are close to the work, every appeal feels urgent and every campaign feels essential. Stepping back with objective data and a clearer sense of audience reality helps you decide where to adapt, where to persist – and where the real gaps in your story now lie.
