Speaking at the annual Charity Fair in London, run by the Directory of Social Change (DSC), she warned charities: "Don't just rely on one source of funding.because if that ends your good work is at risk."

Mactaggart was there to lend her support to www.governmentfunding.org.uk. The website, funded by the government and run by the DSC, serves as a one stop shop for government grants to the third sector. From today, charities and voluntary groups will also be able apply for grants online. This, the government hopes, will help to encourage smaller organisations to apply.

"The government gives something like £2 billion to charity and voluntary organisations. What we are committed to doing is to make it easier for smaller organisations to get their hands on that money," the minister explained.

The move follows concerns raised by the NCVO that smaller organisations are failing to benefit from the government's munificence in recent years; government funding now accounts for 37% of the sector's income. Mactaggart denied that this level was uncomfortably high, however. "The risk is not from government funding but relying on one big funder," she said. Nevertheless, she said: "The safest form of funding is that directly from the citizen, not from their taxes."