18/05/10
By Andrew Holt
Small local charities and voluntary organisations around the UK have felt the impact of the economic downturn and subsequent recession as keenly as any business
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Survey reveals public perceptions of charities
The public are more likely to perceive smaller charities as being "friendly" but "amateurish"; and larger ones as being "professional" but "wasteful", according to data out today. However, smaller charities may just have the edge - from a "loyal hardcore" - when it comes to attracting donors. Not-for-profit sector consultancy nfpSynergy's Charity Awareness Monitor regularly surveys a representative sample of 1000 16plus year olds throughout mainland Britain every year, asking them a range of charity-related questions: including gauging what impact the size of a charity has on public perceptions and on claimed propensity to donate.
Spending Review: charities could face up to £4.5bn hit
The Comprehensive Spending Review revealed a major reduction to the administrative costs across government, with George Osborne's four-year plan slashing a total of £81 billion from public spending, with ACEVO noting the changes could result in charities facing up to £4.5bn hit to their funding. The chancellor announced a reduction in revenue grants to local authorities by 26% over the period 2011/12 to 2014/15. Of significance to the charity sector are the cuts to the Department for Culture Media and Sport (-24%), Local Government (-27%), and reform of welfare and housing: with local authority revenue grants no longer protected, and social housing funding cut by 60 per cent.
New sector almanac chronicles a decade of growth
Newly-published research has revealed a significant growth in the size of the voluntary sector workforce over the past decade. The UK Voluntary Sector Workforce Almanac 2011 published today shows that there were 765,000 people working in the voluntary sector in 2010, an increase of 40% since 2001. This represents a quicker rate of growth than that experienced in either the public or the private sectors over the same period. Such long term growth precedes our recently released figures showing indications of a downturn in voluntary sector employment during 2011.
The European Union is one of the largest donors to civil society in the world, but also accused of not truly engaging with sector organisations. Peter Davy investigates the EU/sector relationship
Current struggles over the Eurozone debt crisis have done little to endear the EU to British voters, it seems. Two polls in July had half the population saying they would vote to leave were a referendum held. In the survey by pollsters AngusReid, only a third thought EU membership had been positive for the country...
With morale in the sector at its lowest ebb, Duncan Jefferies asks what makes an effective leader and how charities can attract and develop the best management talent in the current environment
Andrew Holt investigates the vital and often unique work taken on by faith charities, the
part they play in the Big Society, and how they will survive in a testing environment
Faith-based charities form a significant part of the charitable sector, with 30,115 charities in England and Wales focusing on religious activities,equating to a shared income of £6.643 billion....
