Giving & philanthropy

Charities are battling with an increased demand for their services despite being hit by multiple financial pressures, according to a new survey of charity leaders.

The National Council for Voluntary Organisations has responded to the Treasury's plans to drop the controversial tax rises on pasties and caravans, saying that they need to do the same with the charity tax.

Donations to charity fall by 20% as fewer people give – new report finds

Super-major charities (defined as those with an income over £100m) are experiencing similar trends and challenges with income to the rest of the voluntary sector, new analysis of data collected for the NCVO UK Civil Society Almanac has shown.

Data for the period 2009/10 - 2015/16 shows that charities with an annual income of £100m or over have grown to account for a fifth of the voluntary sector's total income. £100m+ charities are growing in number, and so is their collective income, which increased from £6.4bn in 2009/10 to £9.4bn in 2015/16.

The 2016 photo competition closed on 18 March. Winners will be announced on 18 April, and will be posted here shortly after.

The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) has today responded to the Queen’s Speech. The main announcement of relevance to the voluntary sector is the enactment of the Small Donations Scheme, which aims to reduce the administrative burden on charities by providing top-up payments so that they do not have to fill out Gift Aid declarations on each small donation.

The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) has today welcomed David Cameron’s hint at a rethink on the tax relief cap on charitable donations, calling it the ‘most encouraging sign yet’ that the Government plans to drop the proposal. Today’s Daily Mail reports 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.

Sector leaders have welcomed Government amendments to the Small Charitable Donations Bill, that cleared its final hurdle in the Commons last night. After months of campaigning to make the Bill fairer and more accessible for charities, these amendments will ensure that more charities are able to benefit from the scheme. The Bill will now proceed to the House of Lords.