Community Matters members have seen their income drop by 18 per cent collectively in the past year, and a drop in reserves by 29 per cent for the same period.
In response, all organisational members with an income of less than £15,000 will now get free membership.
The findings, which represent 22 per cent of Community Matters' 1,100 members, found on average each organisation had lost £20,000 over 2010/11.
A Community Matters spokesman said the greatest cause of income loss for survey respondents was losing government grants, followed by public service contracts.
He continued: “The rapid disappearance of sources of income may also explain the drop in the average amount of reserves our members hold.”
The average reserves of a Community Matters member is now just under £31,000, while in 2009/10 it was £43,000, representing an average drop of 29 per cent. As in 2009/10, a quarter of members hold no reserves at all.
The findings were revealed at Community Matters' annual conference and annual general meeting this weekend, where members voted overwhelmingly to offer free membership to community organisation members with an income of less than £15,000.
Responses to other parts of the survey show that 40 per cent of Community Matters' members own or have a long lease on their community building, which Community Matters believes is a big factor in their financial independence.
However, it also thinks that buildings and the staffing required to run them can be a big drain on the resources of some communities. Half of those surveyed reported that the majority of their costs were for staffing and a quarter of the members said their single biggest area of expenditure was utilities bills.
Speaking at the end of the conference this weekend, Community Matters' chief executive David Tyler said: “At Community Matters we believe in the principle of asset transfer and we see many examples of where it’s been the making of a community organisation.
"We also recognise that for some buildings and some communities a partnership approach between the local authority and the community, where each contributes toward the provision of community spaces and services, will be the only workable solution.”
