The minimum income requirement for membership of the Charity 100 Index has fallen for the first time since the Index was launched in 1996, suggesting that even the biggest charities are feeling the pinch from the recession.

The Charity 100 Index, compiled by Charity Finance magazine, ranks charities by the average of their last three years’ total income.  The constituent review for charities with financial years up to and including 31 March 2012 shows that the minimum entry requirement is a three-year average income of £48.7m, 2 per cent lower than last year’s £49.7m.

The income level at the top end of the Index has also fallen marginally, by 0.4 per cent from £562.7m to £560.6m.  The last time the maximum income average fell was in 2003.

The top three charities – Nuffield Health, Cancer Research UK and the National Trust – have maintained their top three positions for the ninth consecutive year.  Charities Aid Foundation, Oxfam and the Salvation Army come in fourth, fifth and six, all ranking in the same position as last year.

Save the Children has moved up four places to seventh position, supplanting Wellcome Trust which drops to tenth.

There are six newcomers to the Index, all of which have moved up from the Charity 250 Index, which ranks the 101st biggest to 350th biggest charities.  Five have moved into the lower ranks of the Charity 100 list, except for British Film Institute (pictured) which has jumped 73 places from position 18 in the Charity 250 Index to 45 in the Charity 100 Index.

The BFI was appointed lead agency and lottery distributor for film in the UK in April 2011 after the government closed the UK Film Council.  This meant its income rose by 241 per cent to £165m in the 2011/12 financial year.

The three biggest fallers this year are the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, which drops 81 places from 14 to 95, Jewish Care (from 56 to 68), and Stewardship Services (from 77 to 89).

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