International Day of Charity: We Act campaign publishes Report on Trust & Understanding in Charities and Community Groups

International Day of Charity: We Act campaign publishes Report on Trust & Understanding in Charities and Community Groups

– Charities rank second after schools in terms of broad public trust, with Gardaí coming a close third –

– One in three personally know someone who has recently benefited from the work of a charity or community group –

Three in four people (75%) say that they broadly trust charities and community groups according to a new research report. Charities rank in second place after schools (82%), with Gardaí coming a close third (73%).

The report, Trust & Understanding: Public Confidence in Charities and Community Groups, was published by the We Act campaign ahead of International Day of Charity tomorrow, Friday September 5. It is based on a nationally representative survey of 1,000 people.

The We Act campaign is a collaborative initiative of The Wheel, Volunteer Ireland, Dóchas, the Disability Federation of Ireland and Boardmatch Ireland, aimed at championing the work of the charity sector.

Headline Findings
Among the key survey findings outlined in the report are:

• Public trust: When it comes to the most trusted organisations and institutions, 75% said that they trusted charities and community groups “a great deal” or “up to a point”, coming second after schools which scored 82%, and ahead of Gardaí who scored 73%. As for the types of charities most trusted, small charities come out on top at 74%, followed by medium and large organisations at 67% and 63% respectively. The older and younger generations were the age groups that had the most trust in charities with four in five (82%) of those over 65 years, 79% of those age 16-24 and 78% of those age 55-64 expressing support.
• Valued, quality services: almost four in five people (78%) “value the work” of the charity and community sector, two in three (67%) agree the sector “delivers high-quality services”, three in five (63%) that the sector is “professional and competent”, and more than half (57%) that the sector is “generally well-run and sufficiently regulated”.
• Local knowledge appreciated: More than two in three (71%) believe that “small charities and community groups understand the needs of the people they seek to help better than large charities/community groups”. Three in five (62%) agreed that “being local to where I live is more important to me than the size of the charity/community group”.
• Benefitting from charities: One in three (33%) said that they “personally know someone who has recently benefited from the work of a charity or community group” while one in seven (15%) said that they had themselves recently benefited from the work of a charity or community group. Those age 25-34 were most likely to know someone who had benefited (39%), while those age 16-24 were most likely to have recently benefited themselves (27%).

For We Act campaign manager, Claire McGowran, members of the public may not immediately realise how much they engage with charities each and every day:

“It is reassuring that over the past four annual surveys, public trust in charities is solid and stable, and three quarters of people surveyed have a good degree of faith in the work that charities and community groups do. It is not surprising that smaller charities, and those that offer services closer to home, are most likely to have the support of the public—their impact is always going to be more tangible when people can see it around them.

“When it comes to knowing someone who has benefited from the work of a charity, people may not immediately recognise when they are engaging with charities. However, when they go to the Zoo, attend an arts venue, get a Credit Union loan, adopt a dog, enjoy the hanging baskets around their town, benefit from an active retirement group, or access a Meals on Wheels service, then they are gaining from charitable endeavours.”

Other key survey findings include:

• Reasons for lending support: When it comes to the reasons for supporting charities, the top three drivers of support were “knowing the organisation is transparent with how it spends its money” (52%), “knowing the organisation is well-run” and “the organisation’s reputation” (both 51%).
• Prudence and professionalism: People trust smaller organisations the most with how they spend money, with only 11% thinking smaller charities and community groups are “often wasteful in how they spend money”, compared with 27% for medium organisations and 57% for large organisations. However, smaller charities and community groups were seen as less professional, with just 28% viewing them as “usually quite professional in their approach”, compared with 47% for medium organisations, and 62% for large organisations.
• Duplication and mergers: as to possible duplication of services, 35% thought smaller charities often duplicate compared with 47% for medium charities and 39% for large charities, while approximately one in four respondents were unsure (24%). When it comes to mergers, 34% thought small charities should merge to cut costs and avoid overlap, with 43% for medium charities and 32% for large charities, while approximately one in four (27%) were unsure.
• Stop the Press: more than two in three (68%) reported not having seen, read or heard anything about charities in the media or on social media recently. A supporting survey of attitudes of 331 people working and volunteering in the charity sector itself found that four in five (83%) believe that journalists need to learn more about the charity and community sector, with almost one in two (47%) saying that their organisation finds it hard to get the media to cover their work, and approximately one in three (32%) believing that the media does not cover the charity and community sector fairly.

Commenting on the lessons for charities and community groups, We Act campaign manager Claire McGowran adds:
“Of course, more needs to be done to communicate the good work of charities big and small. Smaller charities can perhaps point out how they are also regulated by the Charity Regulator, and have the same levels of compliance and reporting as larger charities, although the burden can be significant based on the resources available to them. Meanwhile, larger organisations can highlight the significant work that goes into ensuring accountability and demonstrating transparency in using public funds.

“As for the views expressed around duplication and mergers, these vary depending on the size of the charity and do not seem to negatively impact the trust held. There are benefits to having a diverse range of charities where, for example, a charity may be providing a service locally that is offered elsewhere, but it means people do not have to travel for support. Of course, it makes sense to pool resources where possible, and there is already a huge amount of collaboration in our sector that often goes unseen, with groups getting together to be more impactful.”

Responding to the results of the survey, Sorcha Killian, co-founder of Hygiene Hub, notes the focus of respondents on delivering for communities:
“What stands out most to us is the finding that public trust is highest in smaller charities and community groups, which I think reflects the value that people place on closeness and community presence. Hygiene Hub is now a medium-sized organisation, having grown from three people in one Dublin community, to a national charity with 11 hubs and more than 150 community partners. Our hub model is what allows us to keep that closeness even as we scale. Each hub is locally embedded, working through schools, family resource centres and community groups, that people already know and trust. People experience our work in familiar spaces, so while we have national reach, the interaction still feels personal and local.

“Being medium-sized also means that we have more stable infrastructure and stronger networks, which allows us to deliver consistently and sustain our work over time. It’s the best of both worlds, combining the local trust of a small group with the steadiness and reach of a medium one.

“We recognise the concern about duplication and we know that, in some cases, mergers can be the right step. However, I believe the sector is stronger when charities complement each other and work to provide wrap-around support. Our approach has always been to embed our services within existing organisations, not to run parallel services. We partner with schools, refuges, youth services, community centres, and more, strengthening what already exists rather than duplicating it. This way of working means collaboration is central, not optional.” 

The report, Trust & Understanding: Public Confidence in Charities and Community Groups, can be found here: www.weact.ie/media