In what could be a mirror to what’s going on in the United States during an election year, the public in the U.K. is generally very positive about charities, but not politics. Three-quarters of the U.K. public think the charity sector is a force for good but separate it from political activity.
Politics does not have a positive reputation in the U.K. New data on trust in institutions shows that only 18% of the public trust the government, and 8% trust political parties, according to new data from the Sheila McKechnie Foundation and nfpResearch.
Many of the participants in the U.K. focus groups were engaged in campaigning activity, from signing petitions to attending protests, but they did not always consider their actions as “political,” according to data from the study. This was particularly notable with the younger age group.
People frequently associated politics with politicians, political parties or being partisan so they were wary of charities being “political.” For the younger group concern over being partisan was high, the data showed. Older participants in the focus groups also mentioned charity scandals and CEO pay, but they were still very supportive of charities and supported them financially.
“The public and donors tend not to think of charities as ‘political’ or operating in the ‘political’ space. References to charities’ political campaigning do not help people understand this work. People question if charities should be involved in politics because it is primarily associated with politicians and being partisan,” Sue Tibballs, chief executive of the Sheila McKechnie Foundation, wrote in the report’s foreward.
“There has long been anxiety that trumpeting charities’ lobbying and campaigning work might put off donors. A clear ‘win’ is desirable to share, but the longer slog of connecting with people affected, building relationships with decision-makers, gathering evidence, developing analysis, and shifting attitudes often goes under the radar until a positive outcome can be reported,” she wrote. “This essentially leaves your community behind. Is it time to bring people on the long slog with you, explaining why you’re doing things as you go?”
Researchers included a mixture of voting intentions in the groups. There were five main conclusions to the data:
* People in the U.K. don’t aspire to be “political;”
* Warm charity audiences can be convinced of the impact of political work of charities, but aren’t there yet;
* People don’t connect with the language of politics;
* The public is more comfortable with some charity sectors lobbying rather than others; and,
* Charities are not seen as the sector that has power in the U.K.
The language used to talk about the campaigning and influencing work of charities has a significant impact on public support for this work, the researchers found. nfpResearch surveyed a representative sample of 1,000 members of the general public during December 2023 regarding their attitudes toward charity campaigning and activism.
Two focus groups were held this past January. Both groups were with people who were warm to charities. The first group was with people younger than 30 who had either donated or volunteered to a charity during the prior three months. The second group was 60 and older, all of whom had given more than £50 to charity in the prior three months.
The full report can be downloaded at https://nfpresearch.com/blog/politics-and-the-charity-sector
