Mergers low on sector's priority list despite recession

Fundraising | Tania Mason | 25 Mar 2009

Just 3 per cent of charities are considering merging or collaborating with another organisation to help them ride out the recession, new research from the Charity Commission shows.

This is despite the government stumping up £16.5m as part of its sector action plan for the very purpose of assisting charities that wish to pursue this action.

Commission chair Dame Suzi Leather (pictured) described as “very surprising” the fact that so few organisations are considering this route, given that it can help them to share expertise and costs.

The Commission’s latest study, part of a rolling series of polls into charity action and expectation with regard to the economic downturn, also revealed that around two-thirds of charities with £1m or more income are worried that their funding or services will be “greatly affected”.

In total, 52 per cent of all respondents admitted they had been hit by the credit crunch, a significantly higher figure than at the same time last September, when it was 38 per cent. Of these, 58 per cent had seen their income fall.

A third say they have taken steps to mitigate the effects of the recession. Five per cent are holding off on launching new services and 2 per cent have cut staff.

“Clearly the impact of the downturn on charities is widening and deepening,” said Leather.

Jobs picture worse than suggested, says union

But Unite, the UK's largest union, believes that the jobs picture is bleaker than the Commission research suggests.

National officer Rachael Maskell said: "What happens is that job losses are being disguised by so-called ‘reorganisations’ and ‘restructuring’. When one funding stream for a small charity is not replaced, one or two jobs are lost. The ‘drip, drip’ effect is becoming a flood.’

"When the Commission reports that 32 per cent of charities say they have taken steps to combat the effects of the downturn, this can be translated into more people being thrown out of work."

Directory: Charity Commission
Who's Who: Tania Mason | Suzi Leather

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