Younger people are more likely to support charities campaigning on political issues, new research indicates.
A report from the digital fundraising platform Enthuse shows that 64 per cent of people aged under 45 support charities campaigning on political issues, compared with 61 per cent of those aged over 45 who do not.
The report, which is based on a survey conducted with a representative sample of more than 2,000 UK adults in August, found that 51 per cent of respondents said they preferred charities that campaigned for change, with the remaining 49 per cent saying they preferred charities that did not get involved in politics.
Of the under-45 age bracket, 26 per cent said they had donated to a charity in support of a political issue, compared with just 9 per cent of people in the older group.
This figure rose for the youngest of those surveyed, with 31 per cent of people aged between 18 and 24 having given to support a campaign on a political issue.
The report adds that younger people are also more inclined to practise “inverse giving” – a phenomenon where a person feels motivated to donate when a charity’s actions have been subject to criticism in traditional or social media.
It notes that 37 per cent of 18- to 25-year olds had practised inverse giving, a figure that reduced to just 3 per cent among 65- to 80-year-olds, the oldest age group surveyed.
Under-45s were more likely to support causes considered by the public and media to be controversial or polarising, with this age group being nearly twice as likely to donate to LGBTQIA+, ethnic minorities and migrant causes.
Chester Mojay-Sinclare, chief executive of Enthuse, said: “In the last few weeks, there’s been debate about the extent to which charities should involve themselves in politics. The research tells us that the public is split down the middle on charities interjecting, although it’s worth noting that younger people are more likely to support charities engaging in political discourse.
“When it comes to whether a charity should get involved in politics or not, they’ll want to read the Charity Commission guidelines thoroughly, but the data tells us that they will receive some support for campaigning on issues that are relevant to their cause.”
The report also notes that the majority of donors preferred to give to charities that hand all available money directly to those in need, with only 34 per cent preferring to give to charities that fund other projects.
More than half of those asked said they preferred giving to local or niche charities, rather than donating to big and established brands.