New Philanthropy Capital (NPC) found many underestimate the impact of faith-based charities in society, "believing their numbers and influence to be low."
Highlighting the benefits such organisations offer, it found: "A grounding in faith can help them stay motivated and persevere with causes others may see as hopeless [and] make them more resilient to changes in the policy and funding environment.
Newly published! 'What a difference a faith makes: Insights on faith-based #charities' https://t.co/ysGNgXsFad Our #FaithCharities research
— NPC (@NPCthinks) 29 November 2016
"[It can] enable them engage 'hard to reach' and 'vulnerable' groups in our society; and allow them to deliver culturally appropriate services that consider a person's spiritual needs."
The NPC, which is a charity think-tank supporting both charities and their funders, carried out an 18-month research programme which also examined the challenges and opportunities faith-based groups face.
Its new report calls for "more open recognition of the size and significance" of the faith-based charity sector and "support" for people to understand how faith manifests itself in such work.
There are 49,881 faith-based charities operating across the Great Britain, of which 32,183 (64.5 per cent) are Christian, the NPC said.
The NPC added: "We would like to see ...more openness about how faith manifests itself, and support for people to understand this and what it means ...more evidence gathered on the value that faith-based charities can bring, and how organisations can work together to realise this.
"[We would like to see] greater celebration of the work and donations of people of faith [and] more tackling head on of critiques and concerns-increased openness and transparency can help build trust."