FTSE 100 Firms’ Charitable Donations Drop 34pc in a Decade

Charitable donations from the UK’s 100 largest companies have fallen by 34% in real terms over the past decade, according to a new report by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF). Despite a 49% rise in profits since 2014, the total donations made by these companies have decreased by 13%.

In 2014, FTSE 100 firms had a combined pre-tax profit of £130bn and donated £2.1bn. By 2023, their profits had surged to £194bn, but donations dropped to £1.82bn, representing a real-term decline of 34%.

If donations had kept pace with profit growth, they would have reached £3.13bn in 2023. Last year alone, donations fell by £164m when adjusted for inflation, down 8.3% from 2022.

Healthcare emerged as the most generous sector, contributing 22.9% of the total donations despite making up just 6.3% of pre-tax profits. GSK led in total donations, giving £304m (5% of its pre-tax profits), while Tesco contributed the highest percentage of profits at 11.9%.

Conversely, the telecoms sector lagged, contributing only 2.3% of the total donations despite accounting for 6.2% of pre-tax profits. Energy and industrials were also identified as needing to improve their balance between profits and charitable giving.

The report suggests that if all UK companies gave at least 1% of their pre-tax profits to charity, annual charitable contributions could rise to £9.9bn from the current £4.3bn.

However, only 19 FTSE 100 companies plan to increase donations next year, with nearly half intending to do so by boosting employee volunteering.

CAF’s chief executive, Neil Heslop, called for a national strategy for philanthropy and charitable giving to foster a culture of giving, unlock critical funds, and support essential causes.