National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)’s income from membership is up by 26.8%, latest figures show.

The infrastructure organisation’s annual report and financial statements show that while there was a boost over the last year in membership revenue its income from charitable activities has remained static at £4.1m compared to the previous year.

It also warns that over the last year increasing income through its commercial services, including conference venue hire, training and consultancy “has been more difficult”.

Income from trading activities has slightly decreased year on year to £2.7m, its figures show.

The NCVO adds that its team is “working hard on renting space for conferences and longer term tenants in an increasingly competitive market”.

In its annual report, outgoing NCVO chair Priya Singh said: “As we look ahead, we can no longer wait for a return to normal. Uncertainty is now part of the environment in which civil society operates.

“Our sector’s strength has always been its ability to adapt, collaborate and find new ways to respond. The opportunity now is to move beyond simply responding to crisis and step into our collective power.”

New strategy

During the summer the NCVO unveiled a new strategy that mooted an expansion of its membership to ethical businesses, such as B Corps.

The strategy also signalled an intention “to move away from a model focused mainly on delivering services”.

It also pledged to continue providing practical support to small charities, amid concerns over its services to this sector during the year.

In March the infrastructure body announced a wave of redundancies to its team supporting small charities. But members of the NCVO’s own Small Charities Advisory Panel raised concerns that they were not consulted about this move.

Also in March, a group of small charity leaders published a letter that was also sent to the UK Government expressing fears around the future of small charities support offered by NCVO.

Incoming chair Jude Sheeran added: “A major focus this year has been developing our new strategy. We listened to hundreds of members, partners and stakeholders about the challenges they face, the opportunities ahead and what they need from NCVO.

“The message was clear: members want an NCVO that is ambitious, practical and influential, but also focused on where it can make the greatest difference.

“We cannot be everything to everyone. Our strategy therefore makes deliberate choices about where we will lead, where we will convene and where we can best support others.”

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