The fifth edition of the annual Charity Pulse report is live. The report looks at how charities fared with their fundraising in 2025 as well as the opportunities and challenges they see for 2026.
The research offers a comprehensive picture of the charity landscape and provides learnings for good causes to take from their peers.
Here are a few of the key takeaways, and I hope you find the full report useful.
Optimistic outlook for UK charities
One of the most encouraging findings from Charity Pulse 2026 is that 77% of good causes maintained or grew their fundraising income in 2025. This is likely one of the foundations behind the healthy level of confidence good causes have going into 2026 – 64% say they feel optimistic about fundraising. Confidence is continuing to rise; increasing from 44% two years ago and 60% last year. This is reflected in how trusted charities feel. Encouragingly, 82% of good causes see trust in their charity as high (8 out of ten or higher).
The other key reasons given for optimism in fundraising include: more opportunities to make use of digital channels (69%), supporters being more focused on fitness and physical challenges (27%) and big name events like the TCS London Marathon and AJ Bell Great North Run being more inclusive and accessible (27%).
While optimism for the year ahead is high, charities do see challenges too. The biggest concern was uncertainty over the economy (60%). Other challenges included persuading volunteers to give up their time for fundraising events (15%) and fundraisers being reluctant to ask for support due to money being tight (14%). Crucially though, this concern about money being too tight has more than halved from 29% in 2024 – suggesting charities think fundraisers are becoming more confident in making the ask.
Areas for fundraising growth
Charities are expecting to see fundraising growth in a number of different areas. Corporate fundraising (59%) and fundraising events and activities (53%) lead the way. Individual giving is also expected to increase by nearly half of charities (46%). Approximately four in ten (38%) charities predict growth in regular giving, 23% legacy giving and 21% in-memory.
Within the fundraising and events area, four out of five (88%) charities are planning mass participation events. This could be a charity-run event or one put on by a third party. Smaller events such as bake offs and pub quizzes are on the cards for 50% of good causes, more than four in ten (44%) plan to offer a virtual physical event that participants can do in their own time and a quarter (25%) hybrid events. When it comes to tactics to encourage fundraisers to raise more through events, more than half (53%) of charities are planning to encourage participants to start fundraising earlier.
“It’s testament to the resilience of charities that despite operating against a difficult financial and geopolitical backdrop, more than three quarters improved or maintained their fundraising income in 2025. Good causes have risen to the challenge and are optimistic for 2026, but most importantly, they feel trusted by the public. That’s vital for building those long-term supporter relationships.”
“Mass participation events – and fundraising events in general – will be a staple for a large number of charities in 2026 and many are expecting to see income growth in this area. It’s great to see that the number of charities concerned about fundraisers being reluctant to ask for donations has halved year on year. That could prove instrumental for successful campaigns in 2026.”
Chester Mojay-Sinclare, Enthuse Founder & CEO
Technology and fundraising tools
The sector is continuing to integrate technology into its fundraising. Simple and versatile tools like QR codes are popular, with 88% of charities using them. TikTok and other video channels are now utilised by almost half (47%) of good causes – a thirteen percentage point uptick from last year. The noise around artificial intelligence (AI) hasn’t culminated in widespread adoption just yet – 16% of good causes are using AI generated images and 7% are using it to personalise donor journeys. There is significant interest though, 29% are looking into using AI generated imagery and 36% are doing the same when it comes to personalising donor journeys.
Data is a key consideration for good causes in relation to their digital strategy for 2026. Nearly six in ten (58%) said they had concerns over data security and leaks, and 51% said the same for data privacy and GDPR compliance. Nearly a quarter (24%) were concerned about platform owners collecting data from supporters and one in five (20%) worry about them re-contacting supporters. Away from data, other areas of concern included: developing the skills in-house to run digital campaigns (49%), understanding and developing policies around generative AI (47%) and developing a social media strategy (34%).
In the face of a challenging 2025, good causes were resilient and stepped up to the task. For many, fundraising income maintained or even grew and there’s a real sense of optimism for the remainder of 2026 as a result. The sector continues to find ways to adapt and overcome which is testament to everyone involved.
If you want to read the full report, you can download Charity Pulse 2026 for free.