All news

Number of Russians doing charity work up by about 20% in past 10 years — poll

69 percent of respondents said they took part in charity work this or that way

MOSCOW, September 15. /TASS/. The number of Russians doing charity work has gone up to 69% in 2017 from 50% ten year ago, according to an opinion poll results released by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) on Friday.

"Whereas back in 2007, fifty percent of respondents said they took part in charity work this or that way, in 2017, the figure has gone up to 69% (mostly residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg and people with higher education rather than people living in small towns and villages and people with secondary education," the pollster said.

Most popular formats of charity work include money transfers to special accounts (32% in 2017 against four percent in 2007), money transfers to charity foundations (17% in 2017 against four percent in 2007), donating cloths and articles of daily necessity to children’s homes and homes for the elderly (27% in 2017 against 19% in 2007). The number of respondents taking part in volunteer work has increased from three percent in 2007 to six percent in 2017.

Meanwhile, the number of those giving alms has gone down from 36% in 2007 to 30% in 2017.

The size of monetary donations given in the preceding year typically ranged from 101 to 500 rubles ($1.73 to $8.68) (24% of the polled), and from 501 to 1,000 rubles ($8.68 to $17.36) (17%).

According to the poll results, the professional charity sphere is underdeveloped in Russia. Thus, 70% of respondents found it difficult to say the name of any charity organizations, while 92% said they knew nothing about fundraising.

The nationwide poll was conducted in a period from September 1 through 3, 2017 and embraced 1,800 people aged 18 and older.