A new YouGov survey of the general public has revealed an opportunity for charities to increase fundraising income by £130 million through recycling, going some way to offset the drop in private donations expected over the next 12 months following the credit crunch.

The survey, commissioned by the Each One Counts campaign, has revealed Britons will donate £655 million less to charities next year as a result of the credit crisis; 7% less than the £9.5 billion donated last year.

Each One Counts is calling on charities and consumers to recycle unwanted mobile phones and used inkjet cartridges to plug this shortfall, as many of these items have a cash value.

The www.eachonecounts.co.uk website provides a cost-free recycling service for unwanted mobile phones and used inkjet cartridges, and a donation is made to a selected charity for each item that can be recycled successfully.

Using market research and Government statistics, Each One Counts estimates that charities could potentially raise £114 million through improved recycling. This is based on collecting around 27 million extra recyclable used inkjet cartridges per year and 29 million unwanted mobile phones.

Each One Counts predicts as much as £16 million Gift Aid (A government tax relief scheme for money donated to UK charities) could be added, giving a total value to charities of £130 million – or around 20% of the predicted shortfall.

Amy Horn, collections manager at Each One Counts, says, “Although many charities already run recycling programmes, not all get involved in this free process. With our Each One Counts campaign recycling schemes are no longer limited to larger charities; now any charity can get involved.”

The survey found that nearly 50% of the public were not aware that they could recycle to benefit a charity and that 80% of those who said they were not recycling would do so if a charity was to benefit.

Although 53% of people plan to cut eating out in restaurants, the findings also revealed that slightly more people intend to cut charitable giving than cut spending on gambling and health clubs, giving a troubling insight for charities into consumers’ priorities when faced with the downturn in the economy.

Horn adds: “Charities are facing a difficult fundraising environment, and methods that cost supporters and the charity nothing in cash terms should get greater attention to help make up the shortfall.”