People4Charity Research - Which professionals are the most generous?

Management consultants and HR specialists are the most ëgivingí when it comes to supporting charities through their professional skills.

Research conducted by people4charity.com, which matches freelance workers to registered charities, reveals that business advisers and personnel experts top the league table for offering preferential rates for third sector organisations. Finance and accounting professionals offer the lowest average discount.

The study of 9,000 freelance professionals shows that almost four in 10 freelance management consultants and HR specialists are prepared to cut their rates by around 15 percent for the charity sector, closely followed by one in three freelance lawyers (14.9 percent discount) and IT specialists (14.7 percent discount). .

ìIn this season of goodwill, it is interesting to see that management consultants are confounding their stereotype, while HR professionals are perhaps living up to theirs,î says Duncan Taylor of people4charity.com.

ìWhat is noteworthy from this research is that giving to charity through skills is on the increase among freelance workers ñ our research shows that over 35 percent of independent professionals will now work for the third sector at a discount that averages out at 14 percent.î

The people4charity.com research involved more than 9,000 freelance professionals across 10 industry sectors.