Trust in Charities: South Africa and the World (2026)

Trust in charities hasn’t collapsed, but around the world it has stopped growing, and fewer people are giving. In the 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer, trust in NGOs sits at 58% across 28 countries, the only institution whose score didn’t rise. South Africa is higher, at 65%, but donors here now want proof: affluent givers who don’t measure the results of their giving fell from 78% in 2021 to 37% in 2025.

Is there really a trust recession in giving?

“Recession” is a strong word, and the picture is uneven. But across several countries, the same pattern shows up: the money given holds up or grows, while the number of people giving shrinks, and trust in charities stays flat.

Worldwide. The 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer surveyed 33,938 people in 28 countries between 25 October and 16 November 2025. Trust in NGOs was 58%, unchanged from the year before. Business, government, media and “my employer” all went up. NGOs were trusted in only 12 of the 28 countries.
United States. The Fundraising Effectiveness Project found that giving in dollars grew by an estimated 5.0% in 2025, but the number of donors fell by 3.6%, continuing “a downward trend that began in 2021”.
United Kingdom. The Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) found that 69% of people gave to charity in 2016, compared with 55% in 2025, as reported by UK Fundraising.
England and Wales. The Charity Commission’s 2026 research gave public trust in charities an average of 6.5 out of 10, “in line with previous years”. 57% had high trust, and about 1 in 10 had low trust.

Is it all about trust? No. In CAF’s World Giving Report 2025, the most common reason people gave for not donating was “I couldn’t afford it” (40% of non-donors). But 14% said “I don’t trust charities to use my money wisely”. That is a smaller group, but not a small one.

What does trust in charities look like in South Africa?

South Africans are generous, and they still trust NGOs more than most. In the Edelman Barometer, 65% of South Africans said they trust NGOs to do what is right, which puts South Africa among the 12 countries where NGOs are trusted. CAF’s World Giving Report 2025 ranked South Africa 28th of 101 countries and territories, with people giving 1.33% of their income on average.

What has changed is what donors expect after they give. Nedbank Private Wealth’s Giving Report VI, based on 300 interviews with affluent South Africans between November 2025 and March 2026, found:

86% of affluent South Africans gave in 2025.
Those who don’t measure the results of their giving fell from 78% in 2021 to 37%.
Those who expect no acknowledgement or feedback fell from 57% in 2021 to 43%.

The report puts it simply: “While need may open the door, trust determines whether a donor proceeds and how they choose to give.” Non-givers mentioned barriers including distrust.

Companies ask for the same thing. In Trialogue’s 2025 research, 71% of companies “expected a report on the impact of their donations”, and 64% of nonprofits provided one. At the same time, 30% of nonprofits reported decreased income, up from 11% in 2021. When money is tight, the organisations that can show their work are better placed.

Most of us have also seen news stories about donations that went missing. I won’t name anyone here. The point is that those stories shape how people see charities they have never heard of, including the many small organisations run carefully by people who would never dream of it.

What do donors want to see before they trust a charity?

The research agrees on this more than on anything else.

In CAF’s World Giving Report 2025, the things most likely to encourage giving, after “If I had more money myself” (45%), were “Knowing more about how my money would be spent” (36%) and “Knowing more about the results and impact that a charity has” (35%).
In the Charity Commission’s 2026 research, 55% said it was important that “most of the money raised is spent directly on the causes the charity supports”, and 40% that “it is easy to see how much the charity has raised, and how this money has been spent”.

In other words, people want to see where the money goes, what it changed, and who is responsible. None of that is new. What’s new is that donors are more likely to ask.

What can a small NPO do to show it can be trusted?

Most of this is good practice that small organisations already try to follow. The hard part is doing it consistently when you’re short of time and people.

Put a name to every decision. Who approved this payment? Who changed that record? If the answer is “someone, at some point”, that is a risk for the organisation and for the person.
Keep two people between a request and a payment. One person asks, another approves. It protects honest staff as much as it protects the money.
Say what money is for, and keep to it. If a donor gives for a specific purpose, track it separately. Our post on restricted and unrestricted funds explains how.
Issue proper tax receipts. If you are approved to issue them, get Section 18A receipts right. A correct receipt is a small sign that the organisation is well run.
Stay compliant. The Department of Social Development deregistered 6 221 NPOs in February 2025 and said 203 279 organisations were at risk for not submitting annual reports. See our post on deregistration risks.
Report back, even briefly. A short, honest update on what a gift made possible goes a long way.

Why we built Kaycie

Cara has led a non-profit as executive director, and she guides NPO boards on governance and compliance. I’ve spent my working life in finance, marketing and systems. We kept seeing the same thing: good, careful people doing the right things, with no easy way to show it.

We built Kaycie so that more of what’s given reaches the people it’s meant for, with less room for money to be mismanaged or go missing, and so donors can give with a bit more confidence. It doesn’t make anyone trustworthy. People do that. What it can do is make good practice easier to follow and easier to show.

How Kaycie helps

A named person behind every action. Kaycie’s audit trail records who did what and when. Each entry is chained to the one before, so a quiet edit after the fact would show.
Approvals before money goes out. One person captures a quote, someone else signs it off, and a second signature is needed above a limit your board sets. A supplier’s bank details are checked by two people before they can be paid.
18A certificates on request. Once your 18A approval is confirmed, donors can request a numbered certificate, which is emailed to them.
A donor portal. Donors can sign in to see their own giving, update their details and download their documents.
Wishlists that show what’s covered. A public wishlist shows what has been raised from donors and what is still needed. Finished items are labelled with how they were met: gifted by donors, covered by the organisation another way, or both. The “raised” figure only ever counts donor money.

The approvals workflow is part of the Plus and Complete packages. The rest is in every package. You can compare them on our pricing page.

Frequently asked questions

Is trust in charities falling?

Globally it has stalled rather than fallen. The 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer put trust in NGOs at 58% across 28 countries, unchanged from 2025, while trust in business, government and media rose.

How much do South Africans trust NGOs?

In the 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer, 65% of South African respondents said they trust NGOs to do what is right, which counts as “trust” on Edelman’s scale.

Why are fewer people giving to charity?

Mostly money. In CAF’s World Giving Report 2025, 40% of non-donors said they couldn’t afford it. A smaller group, 14%, said they don’t trust charities to use their money wisely.

What makes donors trust a charity?

Knowing how their money will be spent and what it achieved. CAF found 36% would be encouraged by knowing how their money would be spent and 35% by knowing more about results and impact.

Do South African donors expect feedback after they give?

Increasingly, yes. Nedbank’s Giving Report VI found that affluent donors expecting no feedback fell from 57% in 2021 to 43%, and those not measuring results fell from 78% to 37%.

Can software make a charity trustworthy?

No. Trust comes from people and how they behave. Software can make good practice, such as approvals, audit trails and reporting back, easier to follow and easier to show.

Trust in charities: South Africa and the world