Donations soar after Russian invasion

The number of charity donations has soared by 32% in the last week after the Ukrainian conflict led to a “wave of charitability” across the country.

New research has seen a jump in donations from around 9.3 million to 12.3m people who have given to charity.

The huge rise is assumed a direct response to the Ukrainian humanitarian appeal and is the highest number of donations reported by survey responders since charity sector consultancy About Loyalty started tracking public sentiment two years ago.

Richard Spencer, director of About Loyalty, said: “We have all been deeply moved by the harrowing images and stories coming out of Ukraine on a daily basis.

“The crisis has catalysed a wave of charitability across the UK. We’ve seen more solidarity and increases in altruism and empathy and a surge in charity donations in direct response to the war and the many appeals for support to help the people of Ukraine.”

He believes the increase won’t be just for international charities and predicted a “halo effect” for all charities.

Spencer explained: “Most charity fundraising programmes are likely to benefit from the heightened solidarity and the simple fact that more people are giving to charity.

“This will be reinforced and underpinned by the steady increases that we’ve seen in altriuism, empathy and solidarity more generally.”

The Disasters Emergency Committee’s Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal has raised over £150 million in the first week of its launch.

About Loyalty is a research-based consultancy specialising in supporting non-profits through the study of charitable giving.

Find out more about how you can help Ukraine here and here.

Details of the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Ukraine appeal can be found here.