Charity Resilience Index

Staffing seems to be a major issue for many charities and their ability to cope with demand. Only two in five (40%) charities are confident they can afford to maintain current staffing levels over the next 12 months, which has fallen significantly from 53% in April/May 2023.

Despite many charities being overwhelmed with need, one in eight face having to make redundancies or reduce staff numbers.

Half of charities reported that the cost-of-living crisis is negatively impacting staff/volunteer morale (52%) and that they are struggling to recruit or retain suitably qualified candidates or volunteers (51%).

“Staff say the pressure to try and keep up with the demand and the emotional strain of having to turn away desperate people due to capacity issues has been a cause of severe mental health strain.”
Support, care or services charity in the South East

“Recruitment is our biggest inhibitor to expanding capacity  - harder to recruit suitably experienced staff than it is to recruit volunteers, but one does not replace the other. We cannot compete on wages, staff experience burnout due to level of client crisis. There are easier jobs for very similar money.”
Charity in the South East

“Staff morale. Constantly working with people who are experiencing more and deeper problems hits us all hard.”
Prevention or relief of poverty charity, South West England

“Relentless high complex referrals with staff that are not qualified to this high level."
Community organisation in the North of England

Rising demand for charitable services shows no signs of slowing down

Around six in ten (59%) charities say that demand has increased compared to a year ago, with nearly a third (31%) saying it has increased substantially. 

The continuing pressures of the cost-of-living crisis means that the challenges facing many charities of higher demand, lower income, inflated costs, have become entrenched.

Some charities have been forced to turn people away

Two-fifths (41%) of charities surveyed who say they cannot help anyone else, and one in eight (12%) who say they have been forced to turn people away.

A Welsh homelessness organisation said, "our operations, more crucial now than ever, are stretched thin, forcing us to prioritise essential services while pausing others, leaving gaps in our support network."

Many charities plan to invest in their long-term energy efficiency

Despite the Government discount scheme for businesses and charities, nearly a third (31%) of charities disagreed that they have been able to get support to cope with the cost of their utilities. With all Government support for energy costs expected to end in March 2024, one-third (32%) of charities say they plan to invest in improving their energy efficiency for the long-term.

The Charity Resilience Index is stable at 68%

Just half of charities have high levels of confidence in their ability to meet demand for their services, both now (50%) and over the next 12 months (50%). 

Similarly, only half of charities are very confident that they can afford their overheads such as energy, buildings, and supplies (50%)

More charities were feeling confidence about their ability to copy with the effects of the crisis

More than three quarters (78%) of charities reported that their senior management team and trustee board felt confident to face current challenges and 36% had developed a detailed plan to face the cost-of-living crisis.

Charities were increasingly asking funders for support with staff costs

The proportion of charities who had asked or would ask funders for help with increased costs remained at around four in 10 in line with findings from January 2023. 

Over the same period there was a significant increase in charities who has asked or would ask funders to pay for staff salary increases (from 8% in January to 22% in April/May).

The charity resilience index was unchanged at 67%

In April/May the Index remained at the same level recorded in January 2023. Charities that survived the difficult winter continued to struggle to meet costs and provide essential services despite a more positive economic outlook for the UK.

There was an increasingly negative impact on the voluntary sector workforce

Seven in 10 (70%) charities said that the rising cost of living was impacting the morale of their workforce and six in 10 were struggling to retain or recruit suitably qualified candidates or volunteers. This was a substantial increase since we surveyed a similar sample in January 2023 (up from 53% and 43% respectively).

Scottish charities were more likely than English charities to have cut services

Scottish charities were significantly more likely to report that they had made cuts to services and did not have room to cut further (35% vs 20% of English charities). Nearly three in five (56%) Scottish charities were worried about struggling to survive compared to just under two in five in England (38%).

Most charities have seen an increase in demand for their services

In January 2023, nearly three in five (57%) charities reported that demand had increased compared to the same time last year, including a quarter (24%) of charities who say that it has increased 'a lot'. The research indicates that charities working for the prevention or relief of poverty are particularly likely to report an increase in demand for services.

Only one in three charities are highly confident in their funding

A third (31%) of charities are very confident that their current funding is secure, while around half are confident that they have the funds to meet current demand. Less than two in five are confident that they can afford to maintain their staffing levels over the next year (36%) or have a plan for maintaining or growing their income over the next 12 months (37%).

More than half of charities are worried about their survival

Concern about survival peaked at 60% in December before dropping back in January (53%). The concern is particularly acute among charities involved in support or care services (e.g. those working with disabled people, children or the elderly.) Across December and January, around seven in 10 (71%) of these charities said that they were worried about struggling to survive, compared to 44% of faith-based charities.

Charities in the North of England are among the hardest hit

In the North of England, demand has increased for nearly seven in 10 (67%) charities, and two-fifths (40%) say it has increased substantially (compared to 55% and 24% across the rest of England). Charities in the North (63%) are also significantly more likely to have used their reserves to meet running costs than those based elsewhere in England (50%).