Funding

Public funding for charities could be 12% lower by 2017/18, according to new analysis from NCVO. Our new forecast suggests public funding for the sector could be £1.7bn lower in 2017/18 than it was in 2010/11, the latest year for which data is available.

Our ‘Counting the Cuts’ analysis uses Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts of public spending and NCVO UK Civil Society Almanac data on charities’ income sources to estimate the impact of reductions in public spending on charities.

A broad sector coalition working with local and national partners in the European Funding Network has joined forces to call on the government for a greater role for civil society in the next programme of EU funding.

In coordinated letters to key ministers at BIS, DWP and DCLG; NCVO as well as Social Enterprise UK, Cooperatives UK, UnLtd, Social Investment Business, CAN Invest and Community Development Finance Association have drawn attention to the role civil society organisations can play in the pursuit of inclusive and sustainable growth.

Government is currently consulting on how European structural funds will be delivered over the next 7 years from 2014.

Our free service which signposts charities to funding and finance opportunities has had its contract extended for a further 18 months.

Funding Central, which is managed by NCVO, will now run until March 2014 following agreement of further funding from the Office for Civil Society. As an added piece of good news, the site now has over 50,000 registered users across England.

We have produced a joint parliamentary briefing with the Charity Finance Group (CFG) to send to MPs ahead of the second reading of the Small Charitable Donations Bill on 4 September. 

We feel that the scheme is a welcome addition to the Gift Aid landscape and could be of particular benefit to small charities. Millions in potential Gift Aid (approximately £700m) is left unclaimed every year and this scheme could go some way to bringing some of this money back to beneficiaries that need it most.

Our free website Funding Central, which offers voluntary organisations access to thousands of grants, contracts and loans, together with support and advice on developing sustainable income strategies, is celebrating its third birthday today.

We have welcomed David Cameron’s hint at a rethink on the tax relief cap on charitable donations, seeing it as the most encouraging sign yet that the Government plans to drop the proposal.

The Daily Mail reported on Wednesday that the Prime Minister said that the matter would ‘be dealt with’ when questioned about the widespread opposition to the plans. He suggested that he wants the plans dramatically altered or abandoned altogether.

Speaking at an event on proposals for the next round of European Structural Funds, our Chief Executive Sir Stuart Etherington today called for a greater role for civil society organisations.

Civil society organisations are a key partner in the delivery of EU Structural Funds - approximately £430 million has been allocated to civil society organisations from the European Social Fund (ESF) alone over the last three years, representing a major opportunity for the sector.