The appetite for professional advice on charitable giving is growing, according to a report released by the Charities Aid Foundation.

Two thirds of the UK’s wealthiest people, those with a minimum £1m of liquid assets, think professional advisers such as lawyers, accountants and wealth managers, could do more to cover the area of philanthropy as part of their work.

Nearly three quarters (73%) also said they think philanthropy advice should be a free or low cost service, with the majority wanting to use a not-for-profit service provider with knowledge of the charity sector, according to the research.

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The report said there was particular demand for advice on tax benefits, understanding the social need and selection of causes and monitoring the impact of giving.

Some 39% of those surveyed had taken advice on their philanthropy.

Of those who have received advice already, tax relief on charitable giving is the most popular area, with 44% getting professional help on this.

Just under a third (31%) asked about understanding the need and selecting social causes and 28% sought advice on monitoring the impact of giving and selecting charitable organisations or projects.

Those who had taken advice gave away far more money than those who had not asked for support on their philanthropy, giving an average of £15,700 to charity in the previous year compared to the overall average annual donation of £8,800.

David Stead, executive director for philanthropy and development at the Charities Aid Foundation, said: “The appeal of comprehensive, structured advice on philanthropy is growing significantly, presenting opportunities for wealth managers, lawyers, accountants and other professional advisers to serve their clients in an area of deep personal importance.

“Stretching their services into this space or partnering with others to do so, can help advisers establish themselves as a trusted authority and help philanthropic capital get to where it is needed most.”

Offering philanthropy advice has benefits for professional advisers too, he said. Even if the service is provided free-of-charge, the report found it can help “deepen the relationship with existing clients and enable advisers to better understand clients’ longer term goals”.