A quarter of charities have been directly affected by societal division, including vandalism, protests and changes in the level of support they receive, the Charity Commission has found.
The regulator commissioned the polling company BMG to survey a representative sample of almost 3,000 trustees in February in a bid to understand how their charity had been affected by the challenging social environment.
Researchers found that more than one in 10 charities (11 per cent) reported a decrease in support, while 5 per cent had been forced to change or stop delivering services.
The study showed that 4 per cent of charities had reported incidents including vandalism or damage to their property, while 2 per cent said staff had been threatened in person.
Rachel Wenstone, assistant director of policy at the Charity Commission, said the findings had given the regulator “clear evidence of the scale of what charities have been telling us over the past 18 months”.
She said: “We have heard deeply concerning accounts of staff being threatened, intimidated and left afraid simply for doing their jobs.
“These findings show those experiences are not isolated: a significant minority of charities are now operating in an environment marked by hostility and threat.”
Charities promoting causes such as human rights or religious and racial harmony were most likely to say they have been impacted, the research found.
“Charities are not above criticism or scrutiny. The public is entitled to question, challenge and choose which causes to support,” said Wenstone.
“But disagreement should never cross the line into abuse, intimidation or threats of violence, and registered charities should be enabled to pursue their legitimate, legal purposes.
“We will continue to monitor these trends closely and encourage charities to report serious incidents to us.”