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Most of the British public would transfer their donations away from a charity if they discovered it was performing badly, and many claim that the charity’s results influence their decision to donate, a new YouGov survey suggests.

Over two thirds (68%) would stop donating to a charity if they found it to be performing poorly, while 42% said that the charity’s results would influence their decision to donate to them in the first place. Martin Brookes of charity think tank and consultancy New Philanthropy Capital states: “Levels of giving to charity in the UK remain low…in the past decade, the proportion of people giving to charity in the UK has fallen to 54%, a decline equivalent to one in seven of the population giving altogether.”

Despite this, just over a quarter (29%) claim their decision to donate is based more on emotions than as the result of a rational thinking process – and only 18% said that their charity-giving actions would change if a charity was found to be performing well. In fact, it seems having a personal connection to a charity is an important factor: 45% said that this is a significant influence in determining to which charity they donate.

Despite this emotional connection, however, a charity’s results remain an important factor for a significant percentage of the public, and to this end, a significant minority (40%) were interested in the idea of a grading system of the charity sector, similar to that which measures standards in the school and hospital sectors.

It seems that charities cannot reply simply on an emotional pull to secure their much-needed donations. Naomi Barber, Research Manager in the Public Sector team said, “The results suggest that charities take their donors for granted at their peril. While many people give with their hearts, the research shows that the head still rules when it comes to relating donations to performance.” And Brookes agrees: “It is up to charities to provide better information on their work in order to keep donors’ support.”

Additional editing by Hannah Thompson