There are over 160,000 charities in the UK¹, benefiting a wide range of causes from hospices to international development. We explore facts and figures to try and determine which of these causes appeal most to the general public, but find that the outcome depends on the criteria used. When asked, the public name clear favourites such as cancer and animals, but when their donating and volunteering preferences are considered the picture is far from clear.

Robbie Macmillan, 22-year old graduate, Founder and Chairman of Children of Rwanda, a new charity promoting children's health and education in the western part of Rwanda, is contributing to our blog this week. 

Have you ever wanted a few facts and figures about the sector at your fingertips?  Have you wished you could give a journalist a few nuggets of info to show how important the sector is to society? 

As it's the season of goodwill, we're giving away The 12 Insights of Christmas. They look at some of the key issues facing the charity sector and include research, interviews and advice from charities and from us. Unwrap our 12 free reports just in time for Christmas.

1. A Hidden Gem - Resilience report from the Clore Social Leadership Programme

Results for charities with an income between £1m and £10m annually, taken from our 2008 Virtual Promise survey of how charities are using the internet.

Results from our 2008 Virtual Promise survey of how charities are using the internet, for charities with an annual income of more than £10m.

The results for charities with an income of under £1m, taken from our 2008 Virtual Promise survey.

Since 2001, we've been surveying charities to find out how and why they use the internet. These results are from the latest survey, conducted in the second half of 2008.