Scottish parties split over impact of independence on charities

• 19 of the 20 SNP MSPs surveyed believe that Scottish independence would have a positive impact for charities, a new report finds 
• Seven out of 15 Labour MS

Whether or not Scotland votes for independence, the future of the country is set to change. As politicians continue to debate what independence could mean, we have analysed what MSPs and the general public think the impact of a ‘Yes’ vote would have on Scottish charities.

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Donors are reassured when no one earns over £50,000 or travels on first class rail

• 69% of people think London-based offices and rebrands are ‘somewhat’ or ‘very’ wasteful (slide 2)
• Over a third of people think lobbying government or other organisations is ‘fairly’ or ‘very’ worthwhile (slide 2)
• 54% feel the same way about advertising, while 61% say that about developing a website (slide 2)
• The best way for charities to make people feel confident they’ll spend a donation well is to not allow staff to travel first class on expenses according to 52% (slide 3)
• Half of people would feel confident if the organisation was run mostly by volunteers (50%), no one earned more than £50,000 a year (47%) and no one got a bonus (46%) (slide 3)
• One in three said they’d feel confident if a charity had no offices in London, while 23% would if staff paid for their own Christmas party. One in ten would if staff worked a day a month for free (slide 3)

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10 percentage point drop sees them fall to 7^th most trusted institution, Armed Forces remain top

• Public trust in charities has fallen for the first time since 2011. 56% of people now trust charities ‘quite a lot’ or ‘a great deal’, compared to 66% in 2013 (slide 3)
• Charities drop to 7^th in the list as they’re overtaken by schools, small businesses and the Royal Family (slide 3)
• Armed Forces remain top with 70% despite a fall of 8%, while Scouts and Guides remain in the top three on 64% (slide 3)
• Political parties are still bottom on 12%, with 51% trusting them very little (slide 2)
• Only a quarter trust the Fundraising Standards Board, while 28% have never heard of it (slide 4)
• People were also asked which statements a charity could make that would reassure them about making a donation or would convince them the charity was doing a good job (slide 8)
• 70% chose ‘every new charity has to be scrutinised by the Charity Commission before it is approved’ and 68% selected ‘every charity’s accounts are on the Charity Commission website’ (slide 8)
• 68% opted for charities reviewing their costs every year to keep them low (slide 8)

People more likely to want lower charity reserves when talking money instead of months

• When asked how many months expenditure a charity should keep in reserve, the average of people’s responses was 7.3 months
• Just 4% said up to 1 month