Rich 'don't dig deep for charity'

High profile campaigns do not stir rich to donate

Rich people are donating less money to charity than those on lower incomes, a survey claims.

Top earners give less than 1% of their household income to worthy causes, yet the less well off are giving 3%, says the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).

The think tank compared the top 20% of earners with those in the bottom 10% of the income leagues.

For the majority of people the question wasn't 'How much should I give?' but 'Why should I give at all?'

Laura Edwards, IPPR

The results have led to suggestions that wealthy people should give up their time instead of money.

The survey found the high profile campaigns by charities do not persuade the majority of rich people to part with any money.

Excusing their lack of donations, top-earners said they did not feel it was their responsibility to give, had no spare cash or did not trust charities, the report states.

The IPPR, who obtained figures from the Institute for Fiscal Research for its percentages, suggested charities should change their approach towards the wealthy.

'Give enough in taxes'

Rich people should be encouraged to give up their time and become more involved with the charity's work, it says.

Some 56 of the UK's top-earners took part in the survey.

Of these, 28 earned between £34,000 and £60,000 and 28 had salaries of above £80,000

In each group, half said they gave money to charity and half said they gave none.

Some claimed it was not their responsibility to donate to charities and said they already "gave" through taxes.

Others said they could not spare the money and when asked, none considered themselves wealthy, according to the report.

Change of attitude?

The third reason given was that many did not trust charities.

They both criticised the business-like marketing of big charities and said others should be more organised in how they spend donated cash.

Laura Edwards, senior researcher at the IPPR, and author of the report, said she believed the best way to change the attitudes of high earners was not through cash.

"For the majority of people the question wasn't 'How much should I give?' but 'Why should I give at all?'.

""Tax incentives and high-profile giving campaigns may work with a minority of rich individuals already giving large amounts, but do not inspire the majority of wealthy individuals who give little or nothing," she said

"This presents real challenges to the government and voluntary sector who need to put a lot more effort into engaging people in giving time.

"This is the best way to get them to give money."