The past few years have tested charities like never before. From post-COVID recovery and a volatile global landscape, to rising demand for services and shifting patterns in aid and philanthropy, fundraisers have had to innovate at speed and stretch resources further than ever. But is all that effort paying off? 

New research from Blue State suggests that it is.

In our annual Giving Behaviours Tracker, based on a survey of 2,010 adults living in the United Kingdom (UK), we found that 9 in 10 people in the UK donated in 2024. That’s over four million more donors than in the previous year – the highest level of giving ever recorded. And while the average donation remained steady (£169), that’s enough to push overall charitable giving to new heights (echoing Charities Aid Foundation (CAF)’s finding that public donations rose to £15.4 billion in 2024 – a £1.5 billion increase in individual giving vs 2023).

So, what’s behind this growth? Who is giving more – and who is being forced to cut back? How should fundraisers adapt?

1. Higher earners are stepping in, but lower earners still resiliently generous 

Higher-income households are increasing both how often and how much they give:

• Households earning £30,000 - £49, 900 a year: the percentage of people giving rose from 87 per cent to 94 per cent, and average gifts increased from £159 to £172.
• Households earning £75,000 - £99, 900 a year: average gifts jumped by a staggering 83 per cent, from £138 to £252.
• Households earning £100,000 a year: average giving rose nearly a third, from £583 to £750 a year.

And while households earning under £15,000 a year saw a 60 per cent decrease in average donation value, more of them are giving, which shows their sustained generosity despite difficult times, with the percentage of people who said they supported charities in any way rising from 67 per cent to 77 per cent.

The lesson for fundraisers like you? Economic pressures may be reshaping giving, but generosity is holding steady – and if people can give more, they are. 

2. Donor retention is improving — but young people are cancelling

In recent years, we saw a rise in cancelled direct debits as donors struggled with long-term giving commitments, but we’re seeing a welcome stabilisation: the percentage of people who self-reported they cancelled some or all of their regular gifts dropped from 17 per cent in 2023 to nine per cent in 2024.

That’s great news for income predictability and shows that a strong retention programme will pay off. But it’s not the full story. Younger donors (18 to 34) remain far more likely to cancel (11 per cent) than those over 55 (just two per cent). You can read more about retention trends for both regular and one-off gifts in the full report.

So, retention is improving overall – but there’s work to do with younger audiences. 

3. Ethnic minorities and faith communities continue to lead in generosity

Giving patterns aren’t just shaped by income. Our data continues to reinforce the fact that ethnic minority communities and people of faith are among the most generous donors in the UK.

• Donors in our sample who self-identified as any ethnic minority (representing roughly 10.9 million people in the UK) gave an average of £279 in 2024, compared to £153 for donors who self-identified as ‘White British’.
• Within that group, donors who identified as ‘Black ‘or ‘Black British’ gave the most, with an average annual donation of £449.
• Religious donors gave nearly three times more than those who selected ‘no religion’ (£223 vs £81), with Muslim donors contributing the most at £373 on average in 2024.

For fundraisers, this is a clear call to action: invest in meaningful and authentic relationships with diverse communities, ensuring cultural understanding, respect, and tailored engagement. 

Our team at Blue State has been doing much more in this space in recent years and are available to chat if you are thinking about diversifying your donor pools.

4. New frontiers: gaming and protest culture

Giving through non-traditional channels is not just a trend. Among 18 to 34-year-olds:

• 17 per cent donated through gaming or livestreaming in 2024, nearly double the 2022 figure (nine per cent).
• 16 per cent reported attending a protest in 2025, up from just five per cent in 2023.

This reflects a growing desire among younger donors to take action in ways that feel immediate, social, and values driven. Tangible giving is effective and, with the right supporter programmes, can build long-term affinity. 

What does this mean for fundraisers?

The big picture is encouraging: more people are giving, overall individual giving is higher than ever, higher income donors are increasing their giving, and donor retention is stabilising. But the details matter. Fundraisers will need to:

• Balance volume with value, recognising that higher-income donors are increasingly critical to sustaining giving.
• Build deeper connections with young donors, offering flexible ways to give that meet these donors’ expectations, and providing tailored journeys to address higher cancellation risks.
• Prioritise inclusion and cultural understanding. Donors of minority backgrounds and different faiths are leading the sector when it comes to generosity. Fundraisers should understand where these audiences may require additional engagement to cultivate further.
• Experiment with new channels, from gaming to mobilisation – meet donors where they’re already active and in ways that donating feels comfortable to them.

Want to learn more? 

Download the full findings from Blue State’s complementary 2025 Giving Behaviours Tracker and watch a free recording of our 2026 Giving Trends webinar, which summarises the findings. 

And as always, if you have any questions about the research or want to suggest questions for the next tracker, please get in touch. I love hearing from fundraisers about how our research is used in practice.

IMAGES: As individually credited above