Two thirds of senior business leaders volunteer at charities to improve their business skills
Pilotlight’s new research report Philanthropic Journeys, was launched today and reveals a shift in how business engages with charities and highlights the need for charitable organisations to better understand donors and volunteers.
The study, commissioned by Pilotlight and carried out by Dr Beth Breeze from the Centre for Philanthropy at the University of Kent, shows that structured skills volunteering, not only changes negative attitudes about charities but also nearly doubles people’s intention to volunteer, significantly affects people’s desire to make substantial donations and leads to a three-fold increase in the willingness to serve as a charity trustee.
Dr Beth Breeze, report author and Director of the Centre for Philanthropy at the University of Kent, says:
“Modern life is complicated - people are busy getting educated, buying a house, having families, starting businesses and dealing with innumerable other demands on their time and money.
Giving people the right support at crucial junctures, when they are ready to engage with good causes, can make all the difference. Many non-donors are not ungenerous but rather they lack confidence - either in their own ability to make a contribution, or in the ability of the charity to use that contribution wisely, and we need to address that.”