Larger U.K. Charities Hit by the Recession

New research from the Charities Aid Foundation’s Charity Trends on voluntary income reveals that larger charities have felt the effects of the recession more than smaller ones.

The analysis, which is drawn from information the 162,363 registered charities provide to the Charity Commission in their annual returns, reveals that the voluntary income of large charities (those with an income of over £10m) fell by nearly 11 percent (or £855m) between 2007 and 2009. Whilst medium-sized charities with an income between £500k and £10m, saw their voluntary donations actually increase by 2.2 percent over the same period.

Jane Arnott, Senior Advisory Manager at the Charities Aid Foundation says, “Perhaps somewhat surprisingly the impact of the recent recession has been more strongly felt by larger charities. This may be a result of the importance of ‘local’ charities to donors or the fact that people may be substituting long term charity commitments for more ad hoc contributions, such as sponsoring friends and family.

“While smaller charities have seen a modest increase in voluntary income it is still some way below inflation and we fully expect charities to continue to experience difficulties over the next few years, as the sector feels the full effect of public spending cuts and the continuing difficult economic climate.”