According to a new report from Charity Financials, fundraised income grew again last year. But with the economic and regulatory environment now looking uncertain, which charities will best weather the coming storm?
The top 100 UK charities collectively saw fundraised income grow 8% in the year up to March 2015, according to a new report from Charity Financials.
The Top 100 Fundraising Charities Spotlight report, which is free to download, provides a new update of key trends in the annual income of the top 100 UK fundraising charities from 2010- 2015.
The research, conducted by Cathy Pharoah of the Centre for giving and Philanthropy at Cass Business School, shows that charities’ overall income at the top 100 charities increased to £9.5bn last year - a record high. Of this total, £5.1bn was from fundraised sources. This includes all voluntary income except where this comes from central or local government sources, plus event income and income from donated goods.
Top 100 charities have a resilient market position
The 8% growth in fundraised income is the largest increase in what has been a five-year period of growth for the top 100 charities, which the report says have a “resilient consumer market position” and which “continue to demonstrate an importance to public life and social welfare”.
The report notes that the growth in both voluntary and non-voluntary income streams at the top 100 charities over the last five years has been achieved in spite of a dramatically changing environment.
Success factors revealed
Several important success factors are highlighted in the report. These include: building on steady year-on-year increases; investment in regular donors and major giving; and pro-active, innovative fundraising approaches that are responsive to public mood and new media use.
The report says the results demonstrate that ongoing strength in major charity fundraising rests on two key planks: one is the established place of the major charities in our public life; the second is the substantial scale of the major charity sector, which means that it has considerable resources to respond in innovative and imaginative ways to a changing public environment.
Outlook uncertain, but message positive
However, it is worth noting that the report leads up to March 2015, which is before all the recent negative media attacks on the charity sector following the death of poppy seller Olive Cooke and the creation of the new fundraising regulations following donor file sharing. The report acknowledges this, and states that as a result it is difficult to predict if the growth levels can be maintained.
Not all charities have tackled the challenges of the current environment successfully, but the positive message from the report is that major charities that take pro-active, responsive and innovative approaches may continue to be able to ride out a funding environment which again looks likely to be characterised by a new era of global economic uncertainty.
The report is free to download here.
Headline financial results update 2014/15
The top 100 fundraising charities achieved a record income of £9.5 billion in 2014/15
Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation have remain unchallenged at the top of the fundraising table for five years
Sightsavers International and Save the Children International and have leapt up into 5th and 9th places respectively, strengthening the position of international causes
Fundraising income to top 100 charities grew by a real annual 8%, and total income by a real 7%
Long-term trends 2009/2010 – 2014/15
A handful of top charities continue to dominate the market, with little change in the composition of the Top Ten over the last five years
Income growth amongst the top 100 charities showed its highest level for five years in 2014/15
Growth trends in fundraising income and non-voluntary income have remained in parallel
Fundraising represents the largest part of the top 100 charities total income, at 54% of the total.
