A Survey of Public Attitudes to the Charity Commission
- Final findings based on interviews conducted face-to-face with 1,647 adults aged 15+ within 155 sampling points throughout England and Wales. Interviews conducted in-home between 19 ? 22 February 1999
- Data has been weighted by MORI to reflect the population profile.
- Results after Question 1 are based on all respondents excluding those identified at Q1 as charity trustees, charity employees/advisors or MPs'. (Base 1,562), unless stated otherwise.
- An asterisk "*" against a question represents a percentage above zero but less than half.
Q1 Do you personally fall into any of these categories of people?
| % | |
| Responsible for controlling the management and administration of a charitable trust, under the charity's governing document | 1 |
| Member of an executive or management committee of a charitable association | 2 |
| Director of a charitable company | * |
| Have legal title over a charity's property or investments | * |
| A paid charity employee | 1 |
| A paid charity advisor | * |
| A Member of Parliament (MP) | 0 |
| A local councillor | * |
| None of these | 94 |
| Don't know | 1 |
Receiving Help From Charities
Q2 In which of these ways, if any, have you, or any of your family and friends received help from a charity over the last 5 years?
| % | |
| Received advice from a charity after contacting them | 4 |
| Received financial help from a charity | 2 |
| Used the services of a charity | 4 |
| Received personal care from charity workers | 2 |
| Other | * |
| Don't know | 2 |
| None of these | 89 |
Issues Of Concern
Q3 What issues relating to charities, if any, most concern you? What else?
| % | |
| People posing as fund-raisers/collectors who are not | 8 |
| High administrative costs/ money spent on salaries etc. | 26 |
| Charities paying their collectors | 3 |
| Charities are too political/ being too political | 1 |
| Lottery (non-specific) | 3 |
| Charities losing money/income because of the lottery | 4 |
| Some causes are allowed to be charities which should not be | 3 |
| Some good causes are not allowed to be charities which should be | 1 |
| Spend too much money on advertising | 5 |
| Charities are too middle class/ only contain certain people | 1 |
| Government should take more responsibility for the kind of work that charities do | 3 |
| Other | 23 |
| Don't know | 13 |
| Nothing | 26 |
Support for Charity
Q4 Which, if any, of the following things have you done for charity in the last year or two?
| % | |
| Given money to an in-the street collection | 66 |
| Given money to a door-to door collection | 57 |
| Bought items from a charity catalogue (e.g. gifts, Christmas cards) | 44 |
| Sent money by post as a donation (not as payment for gifts etc.) | 21 |
| Supported a TV telethon | 10 |
| Sponsored somebody | 51 |
| Pledged money in your will (even if you pledged it more than two years ago) | 4 |
| Undertaken to give money on a regular basis (e.g. set up a covenant, direct debit or standing order) even if you made the arrangement more than two years ago | 11 |
| Taken part in a Give As You Earn scheme | 3 |
| Made a credit card donation | 10 |
| Been a paid-up member of a charity (even if you joined more than two years ago) | 6 |
| Given up your time on a voluntary basis | 24 |
| Been involved in setting up a charity | 2 |
| Other | 2 |
| Total those undertaking support for charity | 92 |
Sources of Information
Q5 From which, if any, of these sources do you personally receive information about charities?
Q6 And which two or three of these, if any, would you have most confidence in to give you accurate and reliable information about charities?
| Q5 Personally receive | Q6 Most confidence in | |
| % | % | |
| Bodies which regulate and oversee the work of charities | 5 | 13 |
| Charities' accounts and annual reports | 6 | 14 |
| Charity leaflets/envelopes pushed through the door | 55 | 11 |
| Friends/ relatives who have a connection with charities | 22 | 20 |
| Information you requested from a charity | 7 | 12 |
| Magazine articles | 27 | 6 |
| Newspaper adverts/appeals by charities | 28 | 5 |
| Articles in local newspapers | 24 | 9 |
| Articles in national newspapers | 27 | 13 |
| People collecting money for charity (in the street or door-to-door) | 38 | 4 |
| Radio adverts/ appeals by charities | 18 | 5 |
| Local radio news/ documentaries | 14 | 9 |
| National radio news/ documentaries | 18 | 3 |
| Television adverts/ appeals by charities | 43 | 17 |
| Television news/ documentaries | 38 | 30 |
| Other | 2 | 1 |
Bodies Responsible for Charity Regulation
Q7 Which organisation or organisations, if any, do you think is or are responsible for regulating the work of charities and ensuring that they operate within charity law? Which other or others?
| % | |
| Camelot | * |
| Charities themselves (unspecified) | 1 |
| Charities Aid Foundation | * |
| Charity advisors/ legal advisors | 1 |
| Charity Commission | 15 |
| Charity trustees | 1 |
| The church/ Church Commissioners | 1 |
| Companies House | * |
| The Consumers' Association | * |
| The courts (unspecified) | * |
| Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) | * |
| Department for International Development (DFID) | * |
| Dept. of Social Security/ DSS/ DHSS | 1 |
| DTI/ Dept. of Trade and Industry | * |
| Friendly Societies | * |
| Government (unspecified) | 7 |
| Health Education Authority (HEA) | * |
| Home Office | 1 |
| Housing Corporations | * |
| The law (unspecified) | 1 |
| The Law Society | * |
| Local government/ council | 2 |
| Lottery/ National Lottery | * |
| The National Audit Office | * |
| National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) | * |
| National Lottery Charities Board | * |
| Office of Fair Trading | * |
| OFLOT | * |
| Police | * |
| Trading standards officers | 1 |
| Other (supply details) | 2 |
| None of these | 6 |
| Don't know | 64 |
Recall of Organisations
Q8 Now looking at these organisations, which, if any have you heard of?
| % | |
| Charities Aid Foundation | 32 |
| Charity Commission | 42 |
| The Consumers' Association | 60 |
| Department for International Development (DFID) | 11 |
| Health Education Authority (HEA) | 63 |
| The Law Society | 68 |
| The National Audit Office | 38 |
| National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) | 30 |
| None of these | 8 |
| Don't know | 1 |
Contact with the Charity Commission
Q9 You mentioned the Charity Commission earlier. Have you, or any of your family or friends had any contact with the Charity Commission, or not? Base: All recalling Charity Commission (647)
| % | |
| Yes | 13 |
| No | 86 |
| Don't know | 1 |
Q10 Using this card, could you tell me how well you feel you know the Charity Commission? Base: All recalling Charity Commission (647)
| % | |
| Know very well | * |
| Know a fair amount about | 6 |
| Know just a little bit about | 34 |
| Heard of, but know nothing about | 55 |
| Not sure/ no opinion | 5 |
Favourability Towards the Charity Commission
Q11 And how favourable or unfavourable are your opinions and impressions of the Charity Commission, taking into account anything you may have heard about it? Base: All recalling Charity Commission (647)
| % | |
| Very favourable | 3 |
| Mainly favourable | 25 |
| Neither favourable nor unfavourable | 49 |
| Mainly unfavourable | 2 |
| Very favourable | * |
| No opinion | 20 |
Q12 Why do you say you are... favourable towards the Charity Commission? Why else? Base: All favourable to Charity Commission (179)
| % | |
| Responsible for what charities do/ regulatory body | 27 |
| Does a good job | 29 |
| Very helpful/ give good advice/ information | 7 |
| Charities need to be regulated/ it's a necessity | 20 |
Q13 Why do you say you are... unfavourable towards the Charity Commission? Why else? Base: All unfavourable to Charity Commission (15)
| % | |
| Ineffective/ doesn't exercise enough control | 32 |
| Allow bogus charities to operate | 10 |
| Too bureaucratic | 28 |
| High administration costs | 22 |
Perceptions of the Charity Commission's Roles
Q14 On this card are a number of sets of statements that could be applied to the Charity Commission. Please look through them carefully and tell me which one statement from each set you think applies to the Commission.
("Correct" answers are emboldened below) Base: All recalling Charity Commission (647)
| % | |
| Funded solely by the government | 26 |
| Partly funded by charities, partly by government | 28 |
| Totally funded by charities | 13 |
| Don't know | 33 |
| Has legal powers to control charities | 58 |
| Has no legal powers to control charities | 16 |
| Don't know | 27 |
| Holds information on charities, all of which is available to the general public | 43 |
| Holds information on charities, some of which is available to the public | 26 |
| Holds information on charities, none of which is available to the public | 6 |
| Don't know | 26 |
| Investigates problems in charities | 71 |
| Does not investigate problems in charities | 6 |
| Don't know | 23 |
| Helps protect the money I give to charity | 62 |
| Does not help protect the money I give to charity | 13 |
| Don't know | 26 |
| Decides which organisations and groups are allowed to be charities | 66 |
| Does not decide which organisations and groups are allowed to be charities | 11 |
| Don't know | 23 |
| Helps charities operate efficiently | 58 |
| Does not help charities operate efficiently | 15 |
| Don't know | 27 |
