Personal giving

From one-off donations to long-term giving, or designing your personal philanthropic strategy, we work together to help you realise your giving ambitions.

DISCOVER OUR PERSONAL GIVING SOLUTIONS

Corporate giving

You have the vision for making a difference. So do we. We help you plan how to give based on your goals.

DISCOVER OUR CORPORATE GIVING SOLUTIONS

Services for charities

Helping your charity or social enterprise become more resilient.

DISCOVER HOW WE SUPPORT CHARITIES

Insights

Discover the latest insights for donors and charitable organisations to help create a greater impact

Explore

About us

We are a leading charity, working at the centre of the giving world. We help donors to give more impactfully and charities to build their resilience so they can do more of their life-changing work.

Find out more about CAF
PRESS OFFICE

Charities struggle to meet growing demand amid financial strain

15th October 2024

 

  • New Charities Aid Foundation research finds vast majority (86%) of charities report increased demand for their services 
  • Over half (54%) of charities say that demand has increased by ‘a lot’, up from 43% reporting the same in 2023
  • Growing demand for services comes as half (50%) of charities cite increased competition for funding - with nearly a third (30%) reducing their workforce, or planning to do so
  • Poverty-relief, human rights, and diversity charities most affected
   

While inflation may have subsided, demand for charity services continues to rise along with competition for funding, new research by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) has found.

The research among 784 UK charity leaders found that 86% of the charities they lead had recorded increased demand for their services over the last 12 months, with 54% of those reporting that it had risen by ‘a lot’. This has increased from 43% in 2023 when a similar survey was carried out.

Organisations that are most likely to say that demand has increased ‘a lot’ are poverty-relief charities (67%), human rights/equality and diversity charities (66%), and charities helping those in need (55%), affecting services including food banks, debt advice, and domestic abuse support. One Chief Executive of a human rights charity in the North of England said: “We’re not even meeting the demand that exists now and we’ve got 70 people on our waiting list for counselling.”

Despite improvements to the economic climate over the last year, the research also finds that over a quarter (28%) of charity leaders are uncertain that their organisation will be able to meet the rising demand. 

The situation for charities is exacerbated by increased competition for funding. Half (50%) of the leaders surveyed cited this as one of the main challenges facing their organisations. 

This uncertainty over funding is forcing charities to change how they operate. Nearly a third (30%) of charities have either reduced the size of their workforce or are planning to do so, while 18% are not confident that they will have the funding necessary to continue their work by the end of decade. 

The Chief Executive of a medium-sized refugee charity in the Northeast commented: “We’ve already seen a lot of mergers already, a lot of charities winding down and we are thinking about it quite seriously as well.”

 

Ashling Cashmore, Head of Impact and Advisory at the Charities Aid Foundation, said:

“While the worst effects of inflation may have subsided, charities are still having to do much more with less. They are dealing with ever-increasing demand which is only expected to rise as we head into winter - yet their income is not keeping up and there is less funding to go around.

“We need to work together to create a stable environment for our hard-working charities and those they support. The new Government has said it wants to reset its relationship with civil society and an important next step would be to introduce a national strategy for philanthropy and charitable giving to make sure charities receive the support they desperately need.” 

As an important source of data and insight to the Government and a critical delivery partner for public services, charity leaders see the need to make the case for a more substantial role in advising the government on policy areas that affect their work. 

Separate CAF research found that the public is supportive of charities having more of a voice in policy decisions, with a majority saying it’s important for government, businesses, charities and philanthropists to work together to deliver projects nationally (84%) and locally (85%). 

Notes to editors:

  • A total of 784 charity leaders were surveyed online from May to June 2024. The charities are all based in England and Wales, and primarily charities with income less than £5m. The data is unweighted.
  • Public polling was conducted on behalf of CAF by YouGov. The survey was carried out online in July and August 2024, Total sample size was 2,016 people and he figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 16+).


Contact the media team

For more information or to arrange interviews, please contact media@cafonline.org