The study highlights blockages towards more charitable giving and explores what can be done to address these.

UK multi-millionaires often give only a slender fraction of their wealth to charity, suggesting that HNW individuals are not confident about whether contributions get results. There is a major communications breakdown, a report by Barclays Private Bank finds.

The private bank is partnering with The Beacon Collaborative and the Institute of Fundraising to redress the relationship between wealthy individuals and charities. The Beacon Collaborative is a collective founded to encourage and celebrate major donors in the UK. The Institute is a professional membership body for UK fundraising.

“Barriers to Giving [report's name] reveals a lack of alignment on how HNWIs and charities can collaborate to deliver real change. Barclays Private Bank is uniquely positioned to undertake this challenge; not only does our expertise bring a deep understanding of the HNWI landscape, but Barclays also banks one in four charities in the UK," Emma Turner, director, philanthropy service at Barclays Private Bank, said.

The report comes at a time when thoughts often turn towards giving, such as around Thanksgiving in the US and Christmas in the UK, and others. A raft of wealth management firms such as UBS, BNP Paribas, Coutts and Barclays make a point about offering philanthropy advice as part of their offerings. (This publication is running a series of features on the topic in the coming days.)

Research finds that only half (50 per cent) of UK multi-millionaires donate 1 per cent or more of their annual income to charity. Philanthropic donations equate to only 0.5 per cent of national gross domestic product, while in the US the figure is 2.1 per cent.

If every multi-millionaire in the UK was to increase donations to 1 per cent of their income, there would be an additional £46.4 million ($59.8 million) in national charity funding each year.