Trusts steady while individual giving drops

An unwillingness to fund ‘ailing and failing’ organisations, closer scrutiny of applications and a more cautious approach to giving by the largest trusts and foundations are key findings of new research by the Charity Commission. In-depth qualitative research involving the 19 largest donors (including the Big Lottery Fund and two broadcast appeal funds), provided a snapshot of the situation at April 2009, showing that the income of 15 of the trusts had decreased, while only four had experienced an increase. None was planning to create special funds for charities hit by the downturn, but some were considering funding core costs as well as project budgets in the short term. In their introduction to the report, Dame Suzi Leather, Chair of the Charity Commission, and Andrew Hind, its Chief Executive, write that “these trusts and foundations… now undertake closer scrutiny of the financial viability of organisations applying for funds”. The Charity Commission’s third ‘Economic Survey of Charities’, which polled 1,001 charities, shows that just over half (52%) have been affected so far by the economic downturn (up from 38% in the previous survey), and three-fifths (61%) were concerned that the economic downturn would greatly affect the work that they do or the activities that they fund. Meanwhile, research by the National Council for Charity Organisations shows that individuals donated £9.9bn to charity in 2008/09, a decrease of 11% compared with 2007/08.