# More than half of charities in Scotland have an income below £25k

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2024/05/10/more-than-half-of-charities-in-scotland-have-an-income-below-25k/
- Published: 2024-05-10T10:31:22+01:00
- Author: Melanie May

**More than half (53%) of charities in Scotland have an income of less than £25,000,
and for around a third (31%) it is below £5,000, according to the latest Sector 
Overview Report from the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR).**

The OSCR’s [Sector Overview Report](https://www.oscr.org.uk/about-charities/data-and-research/sector-overview/)
covers charities’ income, expenditure, purposes, beneficiaries, activities and operations
over the period from January to March 2024. The data shows 25,045 charities on the
register – slightly lower than in 2022. The vast majority of these are Scottish 
charities, with 1,246 being cross-border organisations.

According to the report, 743 Scottish charities were registered last year along 
with 57 cross-border charities. 2023 also saw 1,130 Scottish charities removed from
the register, and 14 cross-border charities. This is significantly higher than in
previous years due to the regulator’s ongoing work to remove inactive charities.

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#### Two-thirds run by volunteers

Looking at staffing, the data reveals that Scottish charities employ 218,334 people
as paid staff, however, 69% are run entirely by volunteers, including the charity
trustees, with no paid staff. In comparison, only 20% of cross-border charities 
reported having no paid staff. Across all Scottish charities, there are 181,258 
charity trustees.

#### High support for children & young people

More than half of all those on the register (54%) say they aren’t established for
a specific group of beneficiaries, or are for the benefit of the community, while
just under half (45%) of charities support children or young people. The majority
are focused locally, with 41% operating in a specific local point, community or 
neighbourhood and another 25% within a single local authority area.  

Most commonly, they carry out services or activities themselves (85%). A quarter(
24%) make grants, donations or gifts to organisations, and 16% support individuals
in this way.

#### Income & expenditure

The overall expenditure of Scottish charities on the register was £16.38bn in 2023,
while annual gross income was £16.94bn.

 * **[Scottish regulator releases guidance on problem of dominant behaviour in charities](https://fundraising.co.uk/2024/08/05/scottish-regulator-releases-guidance-on-problem-of-dominant-behaviour-in-charities/)**(
   5 August 2024)
 * **[SCVO becomes a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation](https://fundraising.co.uk/2014/07/09/scvo-becomes-scottish-charitable-incorporate-organisation/)**(
   9 July 2014)
 * **[OSCR launches new logo for charity use](https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/01/20/oscr-launches-new-logo-charity-use/)**(
   20 January 2016)