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The expanded World Giving Report in 2025 gives us a wealth of data from which to draw vital insights. What are the implications for charities, funders and policymakers?
The expanded World Giving Report in 2025 gives us a wealth of data from which to draw vital insights. What are the implications for charities, funders and policymakers?
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Providing a meaningful and rich international overview is no easy feat given the diversity of the charity sector — not just in geography and cause, but in structure, resources, and outlook. Yet, what stands out to me in what we learn from this work is the striking commonality among these diverse organisations, both in terms of the issues charities are facing and the factors that support them to deliver.
Unsurprisingly, funding is the most pervasive challenge. While there is a thriving culture of giving in many places, we clearly need to think differently about how to support non-profits, particularly given the ongoing reductions in government aid and development spending.
Charities report that levels of demand increased significantly over the last year, especially for those in lower-income countries. With ongoing and escalating conflicts, climate change impacts and huge numbers of people displaced, charities that are relied on to offer relief are particularly affected — such as those working in health, poverty alleviation and humanitarian aid.
However, it is evident that we can learn from the places where charities are most optimistic, feel the most valued and community engagement is strong — particularly in Africa and Asia. Furthering collaboration is increasingly of critical importance: between charities, with government, businesses, and communities.
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This Charity Insights report is important not only because of the snapshot it gives us into the overall health of the international charity sector, but also thanks to its insights into how funders and policymakers can support social purpose organisations all over the world.
Over the past year, charities have faced disruption from many angles, in no small part due to policy changes in the United States. As the role of governments everywhere evolves, now more than ever, providing flexible, long-term funding is vital to ensuring the strength and resilience of individual organisations and the social sector as a whole.
Those engaging with policymakers should support regulations that enable cross-border giving and make international philanthropy easier. We hope that the insights from charities, about how governments have and could support them, inspires those looking to create a more enabling environment for all social purpose organisations to thrive.
And as demand for the services that charities provide — and the funding that enables that work — continues to increase, this report also underlines the critical importance of making space for connection and collective action. It is a powerful argument for funders, governments, and infrastructure organisations like CAF to invest in supporting, convening, and protecting those spaces.
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This report underscores why it is crucial for charities around the world to put time and effort into considering how to build their resilience. This can feel tough for organisations whose leadership is focused on surviving from month to month. Through our resilience framework, resources and dedicated advisory support, we aim to help organisations better understand and strengthen their resilience, wherever they are in the world.
Funding is a perennial challenge for the sector and this issue has become particularly pronounced globally following the recent radical reductions in overseas development assistance. Charities that demonstrate greater resilience often have a diverse range of funding, in some cases income generating activities. As illustrated by Kenya’s NCDF, there are ways to turn your specialised skills or services into a proposition.
This research emphasises what we advocate with donors; that unrestricted funding supports charities to be strategic, flexible and innovative. Although cross-border giving can present challenges, charities can still make the case for how unrestricted or resilience funding — even as a supplement to project funding — can advance their purpose and produce long-term impact.
We know from our experience working with charities that the six characteristics of resilience are intrinsically linked, so funding challenges can stem from other areas. Not being able to clearly articulate its purpose or capture and communicate the impact it is achieving affects an organisation’s ability to fundraise and thus its financial resilience. Using the six resilience characteristics as a holistic framework can help to identify and address areas for improvement.
For me, it’s particularly promising to see that charities are recognising the value of building coalitions and partnerships to share ideas, knowledge and capacity. Encouraging collaboration can help to promote a more positive, inclusive and resilient civil society with better outcomes for communities on the ground.
