A donation to charity in place of a gift is around a quarter less acceptable than some donors think.

This has emerged in a study at the University of Southern California where 151 people were asked to either make a £25 donation to charity on behalf of a friend or give them a gourmet coffee hamper to the same value. The givers and receivers were then asked to rate the present in terms of overall appreciation, offensiveness, commitment to the friendship and thoughtfulness.

Recipients were up to 27% less appreciative of the charity donations than the givers expected, and their expectation of thoughtfulness at 74% was higher than the actual figure of 48% recorded.

It transpired that the virtuous identity bought by the giver by the charity donation was only really of value to the giver and not the receiver.