Dip in time, money given to causes; scam fears hit donations

But number of people volunteering returns to pre-pandemic levels, study finds

- Syarafana Shafeeq

People in Singapore gave less of their time and money to causes in 2023, with a fear of scams cited as a major reason by those who did not donate cash.

The median amount donated in 2023 was $100, down from $200 in 2021, while the median number of hours volunteered dropped from 12 hours in 2021 to 9.4 hours in 2023.

Despite the drop in the amounts donated and hours volunteered, the number of people who volunteered has gone back up to pre-pandemic levels. Thirty per cent of the population volunteered in 2023, up from 22 per cent in 2021.

These were some of the key findings of the National Giving Study 2023 released by the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) on June 12.

For the study, more than 2,000 people were asked about their giving habits from September 2023 to January 2024. These included volunteering and donating money, as well as other ways of helping others. The study also explored whether factors like trust had influenced giving behaviours.

Perhaps reflecting the rise in scam cases, concerns about fraud appear to be on many people’s minds, NVPC said in its report.

It found that 32 per cent of participants who did not donate in 2023 said it was due to a fear of scams. This reflects a nine percentage point increase from 2021.