Charity and business: what the giving figures say

Supporting a local cause is one of the oldest reasons business people get together: sponsoring a team, giving staff time to volunteer, raising money at a dinner. The national figures show why it matters: giving by the public has fallen, and most businesses do not give at all. This piece sets out the latest figures, how giving through a limited company works, and some practical ways for a Hampshire business to start.

What the public gives

The Charities Aid Foundation's UK Giving report is the standard annual measure. In its March 2026 release, CAF estimated that the British public gave £14 billion in 2025, "compared to £15.4 billion in 2024", the first fall in five years.

The longer trend is in the number of people giving. CAF says it has fallen "from 69% in 2016 to 55% of people last year", which it describes as "approximately six million fewer people giving compared to 2016". It also found that "one in five (22%) people in the UK report they don't donate to charity because they cannot afford it".

What businesses give

CAF also measures company giving. In September 2025 it reported that:

• "Charitable donations by FTSE 100 companies totalled £1.85 billion" in 2024
• an estimated £4.2 billion was donated by British business in 2024 in all
• "Only 25% of British businesses donated to charities in the form of time, cash or goods last year"

Put the other way round, three in four businesses did not support a charity with time, cash or goods.

The size of the charity sector

The sector those businesses could support is large. The NCVO's UK Civil Society Almanac 2024 counted "approximately 166,000 voluntary organisations in the UK" in 2021/22, with a total income of £69.1 billion, and "around 14.2 million people (27% of the population) volunteered formally". It found the voluntary sector "employed 978,000 people" in 2024, about 3% of the UK workforce.

The Charity Commission reported "171,539 charities on the register at the end of June 2026", in England and Wales, with a total annual income of £108.5 billion.

Locally, the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Community Foundation says it awarded £888,623 during 2025 through 201 grants, and £20 million in grant funding to 4,800 organisations in all. A community foundation is one route for a business that wants its money to reach small local groups without choosing each one itself.

How giving through a company works

The tax rules make company giving cheaper than it looks. GOV.UK's page on tax relief when your limited company gives to charity says "you can claim tax relief by deducting the value of your donations from your total business profits before you pay tax". It lists what counts: money; equipment or trading stock; land, property or shares in another company; employees on secondment; and sponsorship payments. Shares in your own company do not qualify.

The reliefs are large in total. HMRC's charity tax relief statistics, updated on 1 July 2026, say "HMRC paid charities £1.88 billion in Gift Aid" in the tax year to April 2026, up 10%, and that tax reliefs for charities and their donors were "around £7.4 billion" in all.

The same statistics include a one-off estimate of the cost of relief on corporate donations: £880 million for the tax year ending April 2022. That figure is HMRC's estimate of tax not collected, not the amount given.

Giving through your staff

A business with employees can also set up Payroll Giving, where, in GOV.UK's words, donations are "taken from your employees' pay before tax but after National Insurance". HMRC's tables in the same release show about £131 million given this way in the year ending April 2025, by about 475 thousand employees. GOV.UK says to contact a Payroll Giving agency to set it up, and you send the donations to the agency, which passes them on to the charities your staff choose. It lets each person choose their own cause.

If you are a sole trader or in a partnership the rules are different, and an accountant can tell you what applies to you.

Practical ways to start

• Give time before money. CAF counts time as giving. A morning's volunteering, a talk at a school or unpaid help with a charity's accounts or website can matter more than a small cheque.
• Pick one cause and stay with it. A long relationship with one local charity is easier to explain to customers and staff than a different cause each month.
• Use your network. Ask your group whether it supports a charity, or suggest one. A shared cause gives a group something to do together beyond the meeting.
• Ask before you promote it. If you want to say publicly that you support a charity, ask the charity how it would like that worded.

What this means if you're going to events

Charity work brings people into the same room for a reason other than selling, which is often how the best business relationships start. Look for organisers who run community or charity events alongside their networking, on the organisers page, and for awards with community categories in awards season. A netwalk or a breakfast is an easy place to ask who supports what locally.

For what's on now, see this week. If you are looking for support for your own business, our business support page sets out where to start.