High-net worth giving in the UK: The giving of the UK’s millionaire population, a five year overview

Since 2020, the Beacon Collaborative has surveyed a representative sample of UK millionaires with the goal of understanding how much wealthy individuals contribute philanthropically. In number, HNWs represent only just over 1% of the total population, but their capacity to give is very much higher than that of the wider population.

The financial and social contribution of the philanthropy of wealthy people to civil society is significant, and yet there is very little research on their giving. They are hard to reach as a population, and many survey-based approaches under-represent them and consequently their true levels of giving.

We are delighted to present the results of a new research programme on five years of giving by the UK’s HNW population. They show that in 2024, millionaires contributed an estimated £11.3 billion to good causes. Since 2020, we have seen an average annual rise in high-net-worth giving of 18%, outpacing inflation and comparing very well against other market indices.

Given the social, political and economic turmoil of this period, the results have shown wealthy people rising to the challenge – increasing their support for civil society and the vital work of non-profit organisations in communities.

This research is important to civil society for a number of reasons.

HNW donors are increasingly important to civil society organisations. As other studies have shown, there has been a narrowing of the donor base in the wider population. This is not surprising, given the economic backdrop, but it has left non-profit organisations having to focus fundraising resources on the donor groups who have the greatest capacity to give.

In order to make the necessary investment into major donor fundraising, organisations need to have a clear understanding of the total market size, and how that relates to other funding streams.

Efforts in the philanthropy sector to increase giving in recent years have all highlighted that there are weaknesses in the operating environment that hinder strategic, large-scale giving. We need help from government to overcome some of these challenges. A better understanding of the size and potential for growth in giving by the wealthiest citizens supports this effort.

More broadly, an understanding of the contribution made by wealthy individuals philanthropically to wider society can help with social cohesion, providing context and a counterpoint to the narrative that the rich don’t pull their weight. Understanding that giving by the wealthy is widespread and growing is also a powerful motivator to encourage others to give and give more.

This research is ground-breaking and is the result of collaboration from many experts and organisations. We are grateful for their contribution and for their support to ensure our results are robust and additive to the wider field of philanthropic research.

We would like to thank the many colleagues and partners who have supported this research over the last five years.