Small businesses back charities despite hard times

Small businesses back charities despite hard times

News

Despite the recession, more than half of small firms in the UK are providing support to charities, according to new research from Barclays.

The survey of more than 1,000 small and medium-sized businesses found 59% of respondents give to charity. A quarter of respondents said they were currently in ‘recovery’ from the recession while half said they had yet to see any upturn, but across both groups, 36% of respondents said the amount they give to charity has stayed the same over the last 18 months. Overall 18% of respondents said their giving had gone down in that time while five per cent said it had increased.

Steve Cooper, managing director of Barclays Local Business, said, "In this one area the recession hasn't had a huge impact. The amount of money donated by local businesses has remained pretty constant, whether the business feels it's recovering from the recession or not.”

Forty two per cent of respondents, who were owners and/or decision makers at businesses with fewer than 250 staff, believed that small businesses have a responsibility to their local area and should contribute where they can. Thirty one per cent of respondents said that businesses should support good causes, even when times are tough.

Cooper said, “The recession provided a powerful incentive to take an axe to the non-essentials - but that hasn't happened with support for charities.”

According to the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, there are around 3 million small and medium sized family businesses, which account for almost three-quarters of all SMEs in the UK. Grant Gordon, director general of the Institute for Family Business, said, "Family business owners want to sustain the commitment to their communities because it is in their values and good for their businesses. The importance of social capital to family firms appears to predispose them towards being philanthropic."

Looking ahead, 16% of respondents say they will try to give more to charity after the recession as they would have more money to give. Seventy one per cent say they expect to maintain levels of giving to charity in 2010.