Since 2020, we have worked with Savanta, the market research consultancy, to track the levels of giving among wealthy individuals in the UK.
The term “high-net-worth” individuals, or HNWs, is often used to describe people with investable wealth greater than £1 million. Investable wealth refers to financial assets, such as cash and investments, but excludes any property.
Each quarter, we have asked a sample of HNWs approximately how much money they gave to charitable causes in the previous three months.
The results show that between 2020 and 2023 the levels of giving increased among wealthy people.
- In 2020, the median level of giving by all HNWs was £1,040.
- In 2023, it was £5,600.
The median represents the amount given by the middle person in the group. Tracking the median is a good way to tell if the dial is going up across a whole sample.
When it comes to HNW giving, the median is particularly important because some wealthy individuals give many millions to charity. This raises the average for the whole group and makes it appear as if all HNWs are giving at a much higher level than, in fact, most are.
- In 2020, the average level of giving by all HNWs was £15,250.
- In 2023, it was £44,000.
We don’t have enough information to determine if 2023 was a particularly generous year, but we can say that the underlying trend in HNW giving is one of growth.
This is different from the general population in the UK where the number of people giving to charity has been reducing and the amount of giving has remained static over a number of years.
Overall, HNWs make up about 1% of the total population in the UK. In 2023, we estimated that they gave a total of £7.76 billion to charitable causes during 2022.
Growth is particularly strong among those who have investable assets of more than £5 million.
- In 2020, the median level of giving by those with >£5 million was £1,800.
- In 2023, it was £25,000.
This very strong level of growth suggests that philanthropy is on the rise, especially among those with sufficient financial security to give at higher levels.
Around 100,000 people have wealth greater than £5 million and their giving totalled approximately £5 billion in 2022.
Scoping the high net worth philanthropy market
Author(s)
Cathy Pharoah, Cath Dovey, Tom McKenzie, Vivek Thaker
Year
2023
Annualised median level of giving by HNWs
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HNW ALL | £1,040 | £1,278 | £1,928 | £5,600 |
| £1m-£5m | £1,167 | £1,256 | £2,088 | £4,480 |
| >£5m | £1,833 | £2,528 | £5,600 | £25,000 |
| %growth – ALL | 23% | 51% | 190% | |
| %growth – £1m-£5m | 8% | 66% | 115% | |
| %growth – >£5m | 38% | 122% | 346% | |
| AAGR- ALL | 88% | |||
| AAGR – £1m – £5m | 63% | |||
| AAGR – >£5m | 169% | |||
Annualised mean level of giving by HNWs
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HNW ALL | £15,252 | £18,052 | £36,354 | £43,961 |
| £1m-£5m | £13,224 | £17,600 | £34,228 | £39,112 |
| >£5m | £40,069 | £29,719 | £60,224 | £95,290 |
| %growth – ALL | 18% | 101% | 21% | |
| %growth – £1m-£5m | 33% | 94% | 14% | |
| %growth – >£5m | -26% | 103% | 58% | |
| AAGR- ALL | 47% | |||
| AAGR – £1m – £5m | 47% | |||
| AAGR – >£5m | 45% | |||