# Local charities are ‘stretched to capacity’ says Localgiving

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2015/10/14/local-charities-are-stretched-to-capacity-says-localgiving/
- Published: 2015-10-14T07:47:54+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**Local charities are continuing to experience a demand in services but few feel
they have they funds to meet this, according to research for online giving platform
Localgiving. More than half of them are not confident they will survive the next
five years.**

Its [Local Charity & Community Group Sustainability Report](https://blog.localgiving.com/blogs/2/113/local-charity-and-community-grou),
which surveyed 538 local voluntary sector organisations from across the UK, reports
that:

• 81% of local charities are facing an increase in demand for services. However,
only 15% of those feel they have enough funds to deal with this.

## Advertisement

• 73% of local groups expect their annual income to either decrease or remain stagnant
over the coming financial year.

• 59% of them say income generation is their most pressing issue

• 42% of groups have had to use their reserves in the last 12 months

• 43% are concerned about a lack of reserves

• only 4% are in a position to prioritise building financial reserves.

![Size of local charities & community groups in Localgiving's 2015 report](https://
www.fundraising.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/local-giving-report-2015-size-of-
local-charities.jpg)

How small are the local charities in Localgiving’s report?

![Levels of financial optimism - Localgiving report 2015](https://www.fundraising.
co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/local-giving-report-2015-financial-optimism.jpg)

Most local charities thought they could survive for 12 months. Far fewer were confident
of surviving five more years.

## Raising funds is a major concern

[⌊Lccalgiving's Local Charity & Community Group Sustainability Report 2015 - cover⌉⌊
Lccalgiving's Local Charity & Community Group Sustainability Report 2015 - cover⌉[

The report makes it clear that fundraising is the most urgent concern for the local
charities surveyed. Apart from facing income challenges, many small charities face
the additional challenge of feeling they can’t rise to the problem: 76% of local
charities believe they do not currently have the skills to run a successful fundraising
campaign.

But they know the consequences if they do not tackle this: 53% of respondents say
they know of at least one other local charity in their area that has closed for 
financial reasons in the last year.

![Skills needed by local charities - Localgiving report 2015](https://www.fundraising.
co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/local-giving-report-2015-skills-required.jpg)

What skills did local charities and groups feel they needed the most?

## Grow Your Tenner

![grow-your-tenner-doubling](https://www.fundraising.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/
07/grow-your-tenner-doubling.jpg)

Grow your tenner

The study’s publication coincides with the launch by Localgiving of [Grow Your Tenner](https://www.fundraising.co.uk/2015/07/31/two-more-matched-giving-campaigns-to-come-from-localgiving/),
a national matched funding campaign that doubles online donations made to UK local
charities and community groups by up to £10. Localgiving is also matching monthly
donations up to £10 per month for 3 months.

Grow Your Tenner runs from 10am on 13 October 2015 until the match fund is fully
allocated, or 5pm on 18 November 2015, whichever comes first. The campaign offers
each local group taking part the opportunity to access up to £10,000 of matched 
funding.

The campaign is part of Localgiving’s [Incentivised Giving Programme](https://localgiving.com/matchfunds),
a long-term initiative to help raise awareness of the sector and build practical
online fundraising skills for local charities.

Stephen Mallinson, Chief Executive of Localgiving said:

> “A rapid increase in demand for services, coupled with an inability to access 
> sufficient funding with which to build reserves has left many local groups with
> fears over their survival. The sector is lacking in both time and resources, leaving
> charities unable to invest in alternative income sources, training and volunteer
> recruitment. Without significant targeted intervention, fewer and fewer organisations
> will be able to continue their valuable work, weakening communities and leaving
> huge numbers of vulnerable beneficiaries at risk…
> “Localgiving is working to implement initiatives, such as [Grow Your Tenner](https://localgiving.com/campaign/gyt2015),
> to address the problems highlighted by this report. Our hope is that through these
> programmes, we can help to raise awareness and provide motivation for greater 
> engagement and support to safeguard the future of local charities and the beneficiaries
> they serve.”