Over half of Britain’s charities believe that the nation’s banks and financial traders are morally obliged to increase their support for charities following their role in sparking the economic recession.
According to a newly published study conducted on behalf of specialist charity insurer Ecclesiastical, 53% of charities said that they felt financial services organisations had a moral duty to offer more donations and support as the charity sector’s finances are squeezed by the aftermath of the credit crunch.
The study also found that post-recession, large numbers of British charities are considering merging or reducing the scale of their operations. Almost a quarter of charities interviewed (23%) said they were considering a merger or consolidating with another charity, while 14% said they were either downsizing or closing. A further 15% were reviewing the potential to set up a social enterprise.
Asked how they felt their finances would perform in 2011, over half (54%) predicted that business for their organisation would remain at a similar level to 2010. The remainder were fairly evenly split between improving and worsening scenarios.
With money harder to come by, over half of charities (53%) said they felt under pressure to create and manage fundraising activities that differentiated them from other charitable organisations with 26% actively considering so-called extreme fundraising . 45% were concerned about the risks they faced by using volunteers in fundraising and 37% were taking action to reduce this level of risk.
Commenting on the study’s findings, Ecclesiastical’s director of underwriting Paul Bloxham said:
“What we’re seeing here is a snapshot of the charitable sector caught squarely between a rock and a hard place.
“There’s a very strong belief among senior charity managers that, having been a key factor in triggering the recession, Britain’s banks and financial organisations need to reach deeper into their pockets to support the charities that are having to cope with the recession’s social aftermath. With debt and social problems increasing, charities are in greater demand but are less able to supply the services due to cutbacks. The feeling seems to be that the financial services sector has an obligation to bridge that gap with increased donations.
“It’s also very interesting to see the mounting pressure on charities to resort to extreme fundraising activities such as abseiling or adventure treks and races. These can be effective fundraising tools, but they expose charity staff and volunteers to an increased level of risk that needs to be managed. Insurance is one way, but only in conjunction with effective risk management. 37% of charities say they are now interested in receiving this kind of advice.”
The survey of 190 UK charities was conducted from Ecclesiastical by telephone during October-November 2010 by independent research company FWD.
Source : Ecclesiastical Press Release
