Survey reveals gender plays a big role in the psychology of giving

Gender plays a big role in charity giving with women more likely to give than men, a new survey has found.

The Institute of Fundraising survey found that 54% of women had given to a charity collection in the past 12 months, compared to 40% of men.

The survey also gave insight into the psychology of giving with 35% of women saying they spoke to friends about the charity or cause after donating, compared with just 22% of men.

This survey forms part of a series commissioned by the IoF to find out who, how and why people choose to support Britain’s charities. This one looks at the reported differences between women and men.

Daniel Fluskey, head of policy and research at the IoF, said: “This research highlights the importance of fundraising for charities and the wider positive effect giving to charity has on an individual and society more widely.

“But within this we also see interesting differences in the way that women and men donate to and support the causes that they care about."

Other findings revealed women are more likely than men to say they made a donation because they had read something or seen a story in the news.

They are also more likely to identify that a charity has helped someone they know as a motive for their donation.