Donations to charity fell by 20% in real terms during 2011/12. The public gave £1.7bn less to charity than the previous year, according to the longest-running and most authoritative annual study of giving across the United Kingdom.

The number of people giving to charity has declined and the amounts they gave also fell, according to a major new report, compiled by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO).

The report, based on a survey of more than 3,000 people by the Office for National Statistics, found the total amount given to charities by people across the UK fell from £11bn to £9.3bn during 2011/12 – a cash fall of £1.7bn, and the largest in the survey’s eight year history. Adjusted for inflation, this fall in donations represents £2.3bn.

The average (median) amount people gave each month fell from £11 to £10 last year and was down from an average of £12 a month in 2009/10.

Key findings include:

• Total donations fell by 15% in cash terms and 20% in real terms (i.e. adjusted for inflation) between 2010/11 and 2011/12.
• Estimated total donations to charity were £9.3bn, down £1.7bn on 2010/11 in cash terms and £2.3bn in real terms (i.e. adjusted for inflation).
• The proportion of people donating to charitable causes in a typical month fell from 58% to 55% in the past year.
• The average (median) amount  given per donor in a typical month fell from £11 in 2010/11 to £10 in 2011/2012
• 28.4 million people gave to charity, more than half of all UK adults.
• Medical research, hospitals and hospices, and children and young people are the most popular causes among donors, but religious causes received the largest average donations.
• Women continue to be more likely to give to charity than men, with 58% of women giving to charity in a typical month compared with 52% of men.
• Cash is the most common form of giving (over 50%) in 2011/2012.  Direct debit accounts for  31% of the total amount donated, an increase of 6% from 2010/2011.

John Low, Chief Executive of the Charities Aid Foundation, said: “The drop in giving shown by our survey is deeply worrying for those charities which rely on donations to provide vital frontline services. Combined with public spending cuts this represents a potentially severe blow for many charities.

“We hope the fall in giving shown in our survey is a temporary decline and not the start of a damaging trend. If donations continue to fall, many charities will face profound difficulties carrying on their work and the people and communities they serve will suffer.

Many charities are not in the fortunate position of holding reserves. Faced with falling donations and public spending cutbacks, those that do are having to dip into them to keep meeting the needs of their beneficiaries. The report says that some are having to close front-line services, some are having to make redundancies and some face closure. It argues that the drop in donations is a concern for everyone in our society, not just charities.