"Unsung heroes of social capital”:

Charity donors give more than mere money

• “Of course volunteers are active citizens - but so are donors,” insists Saxton
• “Fundraisers should use indicators of social capital to identify likely donors”, urges Saxton

People who donate to charity are also significantly more likely than non-donors to boost “social capital” through greater involvement with local communities - according to new research (CAM Donor Heroes (52.58KB) ).

Leading not for profit sector think tank and research consultancy nfpSynergy’s Charity Awareness Monitor surveys a representative sample of 1000 16+ year olds throughout mainland Britain every year, asking them a range of charity-related questions, including gauging their involvement in activities that help build so-called “social capital”.

• 2 in 5 (40%) donors said they were involved with local clubs, societies or associations, compared with scarce a quarter (23%) of non-donors.
• Almost 1 in 6 (16%) donors said they helped out with activities at their local school, compared with just 1 in 10 (10%) non-donors.
• Almost a half (47%) of donors said they were on first-name terms with immediate neighbours, compared with a mere third (35%) of non-donors.
• Almost 3 in 5 (59%) donors said they’d invited friends round to socialise at least twice in the last three months, compared with under half (45%) of non-donors.
• Just under a half (48%) of donors said they did a regular sport or fitness activity at least once a week, compared with just over a third (36%) of non-donors.
• 22% of donors claimed they worshipped regularly, compared with 13% of non-donors.
• Over two thirds (68%) of donors said they would be very likely to vote if there was a general election tomorrow, compared with a mere half (52%) of non-donors.
• Conversely, non-donors (40%) were slightly more likely than donors (36%) to watch at least three hours of TV a day.

The research also found those polled fairly equally split when asked which, of giving time or giving money, they thought would make the bigger impact to a charity – 19% saying money, 21% saying time, 34% saying both and 26% feeling unsure.

nfpSynergy’s Driver of Ideas, Joe Saxton, comments:
“Few people would deny that volunteers, and increased levels of volunteering, help boost social capital, but our new data also highlights the significant and largely unsung role donors already play in achieving this end, through all their additional activities. Moreover, the findings also provide a potentially lucrative tool enabling fundraisers to identify likely donors based on indicators of social capital. Doubtless not uncontroversially, since donors are significantly more likely to vote in elections, fundraisers’ databases may even become rather attractive to political parties!”

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MEDIA INTERVIEWS: To interview nfpSynergy’s Joe Saxton about the significance of these latest findings or the Charity Awareness Monitor itself, please contact:
Adrian Gillan, T: 0207 6 22 99 11; M: 0774 086 7215; E: adrian@gillanmedia.com


Notes to editors:
• nfpSynergy
nfpSynergy (www.nfpsynergy.net) is the UK’s only think-tank and research consultancy dedicated to the charity sector and not for profit issues. It provides ideas, insights and information to help voluntary and community organisations thrive in an ever-changing world. Regularly harvesting the social and charity-related views of public and parliament, media and business - not to mention not for profit organisations themselves - nfpSynergy has a vast and ever-growing knowledge pool from which to extract and deliver insights.

• Joe Saxton
As well as being Driver of Ideas at nfpSynergy – the leading not for profit sector think tank and research consultancy he founded back in 2002 - Joe Saxton was until recently chair (2005-2008) at the Institute of Fundraising; and is currently chair at student environment and development campaign group, People & Planet, as well as chair of CharityComms, the new professional body for not for profit communicators.

Named by The Guardian (2003) as one of the 100 most influential people vis-à-vis UK social policy, Joe was voted the most influential person in UK fundraising by Professional Fundraising magazine in 2005, 2006, 2007 & 2008. The Evening Standard named him one of the 1000 most influential people in London in both 2007 and 2008. In 2008 he was also named as one of PR Week’s 500 most influential people in the UK communications sector.