Do you believe the Guardian?
Howard Lake | 2 December 2008 | Blogs
Monday’s Guardian claiming charities were losing faith and hope, though a sub-eds dream headline was very far off the mark re PriceWaterhouseCooper’s report on their recession survey.
Though non of us are, I hope, in denial about the recession the country has talked itself into, the report gave many grounds for faith, hope and positive action. Some of the positive points I picked up on were: the sector is more reliant on government funding than in the 1990 recession and government is not keen on letting the recession deepen more than can be avoided; the economy is different to last time, but so is the sector with better reserve policies, more sophisticated funding arrangements and I think more professional fundraising in play.
Trusts are expected to maintain the level of their grants but cut discretionary grants, membership income is often expected to hold up and few charities have seen a downturn to date, only 14% of respondents have seen a reduction in giving from major donors (so those bonuses are still safe?), trading income (shops etc) may see an increase but only if they can really supply quality goods, which some people may now sell on ebay.
Expenditure is where the best CEOs can really win by ensuring they do not plunge their organisations into deficit by not having the strength of character to say no to extra programme work, but investing in fundraising. Indeed, 62% of charities intend to expand their fundraising next year. Those who cut fundraising budgets are likely to suffer a prolonged recession.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.