Big increase in collaboration between charities and private sector in London

Finance | Tania Mason | 23 Jul 2012

Nearly a quarter of London charities have collaborated with the private sector over the last year in an effort to meet the needs of their service users in the recession – up from just 1 per cent the previous year, a new survey suggests.

The finding is contained in the Big Squeeze survey conducted by London Voluntary Service Council. A total of 252 London-based organisations responded to the poll.

Among other key results are:

54 per cent used reserves to cover running costs in 2011/12 and by the end of the year just 34 per cent had free reserves covering more than three months’ expenditure
71 per cent expect demand for their services to increase next year and 50 don’t think they will be able to meet this demand
41 per cent closed services over the year and 29 per cent expect to do so next year 85 per cent think cuts to local authority budgets had a particularly negative impact on their communities
Three in five reported a reduction in their overall funding in 2012/13 with a median decrease of 21-40 per cent
And three in five are trying to boost their fundraising or diversify their income, compared with just 15 per cent the year before

However, participants generally responded more optimistically in this year’s survey than in any of the last four years. LVSC inferred that this means they are responding more effectively to the challenges of the current climate.

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