Investment assets of major fundraising charities plunge by a fifth

Finance | Vibeka Mair | 20 Apr 2010

The investment assets of the UK’s largest fundraising charities dropped by 21 per cent last year and investment income fell by £23m, according to new research from Cass Business School.

Charity Market Monitor analyses the finances of the UK’s 500 largest charities each year. It found income from investments fell from £506.5m in 2007/08 to £483.7m in 2008/09 - an 8.4 per cent drop.

Further, the collective investment fund value of the top fundraising charities fell by 21.4 per cent to £6.9bn.

Professor Cathy Pharoah, professor of charity funding at Cass Business School, said: “Many of the major service-providing charities rely on investment income to provide a cushion, or an independent source of income, against fluctuations in their income from legacies, statutory contracts or shop trading.

"A fall in the value of their assets makes it much harder for charities to plan future activities or commit to developing much-needed new services.”

Charities that saw a fall in the value of their investments in 2008/09 include –

• Cancer Research UK (down from £230m to £154m);
• Royal National Lifeboat Institution (down from £281m to £221m);
• NSPCC (down from £73m to £49m);
• The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association (down from £145m to £127m).

Directory: Cancer Research UK (CRUK) | Cass Business School | Guide Dogs | National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) | Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI)
Who's Who: Cathy Pharoah

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