Charities Aid Foundation charts how, where and why the world gives – with 56,000 individuals surveyed in 101 countries
The Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) is a global leader in enabling impactful giving. For over a decade, its World Giving Index has been the leading study on global generosity. In 2025, CAF set out to dramatically expand the report’s scope—moving beyond three core Gallup questions to a custom survey generating ten times more data points. The goal: richer insights for policymakers, sector leaders, and the public. To achieve this, CAF needed a partner capable of delivering high-quality, multi-country research at unprecedented scale and complexity.
Challenge
The 2025 Index aimed to cover 101 countries, capturing giving behaviors, motivations, trust in charities, and cultural context. This required large-scale translations, regional adaptations, complex quota management, and rigorous quality control—while maintaining the Index’s reputation as the world’s most trusted benchmark on giving.
Solution
Focaldata deployed a custom global questionnaire, managing targeting and quotas across all markets, currencies, and regional requirements. Localised translations ensured cultural accuracy, while advanced validation safeguarded data integrity. A dedicated project lead and cross-functional team oversaw delivery from survey build to final dataset.
Results
The project delivered responses from 56,021 people in 101 countries—offering the richest dataset ever on global giving. Findings included that 64% of people worldwide gave to charity or directly to those in need in the past year, with an average donation of 1.04% of annual income. CAF’s methodological leap secured widespread media coverage.
“One of the things that I've been most impressed with Focaldata is that we did 101 countries. Now, in terms of online research that is really stretching the upper bounds of what's possible.It's a bigger project than we've worked on before. With 101 different markets, you've got all the challenges around currency, around language. I think what I've really valued is that we've solved those as we've gone along. You guys have been really honest with me about what is in scope”.
Alex Plumb, Head of Research at Charities Aid Foundation
