Trusts and foundations have overtaken government bodies as the largest source of grant income to the voluntary and community sector, research has found.

The findings on UK grant making show that grants handed out by trusts and foundations increased by 12% over 2023/24 to total £82bn.

However, the research points out that government remains the main provider of contract income for charities.

“Although grantmaking increased overall in 2023-24, this isn’t a straightforward story,” said researchers.

“No group of funders that we have identified is homogeneous – there is so much diversity in organisation size, structure, context, and strategy.

“We’ve seen large increases, significant drops, and many grantmakers maintaining their levels of giving. This variation is normal – it’s what we’d expect to see based on previous years.”

Regionally more than a quarter of the value of grants to charities was to those who only operate in London. Most funds to those with a London base are to charities that operate nationally and internationally.

Researchers also found that National Lottery distributors awarded grants worth more than £2.4bn in total over 2023/24.

The grantmaking research is published by UKGrantmaking, a collaborative project involving 360Giving, Pears Foundation, The Association of Charitable Foundations (ACF), The Association of Charitable Organisations (ACO), UK Community Foundations (UKCF) and London Funders.

This is the second edition of their grantmaking research, which will continue reporting on the sector annually.

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