Increasing fundraising activity is charity trustees' highest priority for protecting and growing finances, according to new research from Rathbone Investment Management.

Rathbone gathered the opinions of over 130 charity trustees on the outlook for the charity sector.

It found that over 61 per cent of trustees reported that increasing fundraising activity is their charity’s first or second priority for protecting and growing finances. Just over 2 per cent said that fundraising is their lowest priority.

Rathbone also quizzed trustees on how the government could help the sector to offset the impact of cuts to grant funding.

Over 48 per cent said that the introduction of more tax breaks for charities was the policy they would most like introduced, while over 38 per cent favoured incentivising more philanthropy and social investment. Only 17 per cent said they wanted government to help build alliances between charities.

Further, just over 55 per cent of charity trustees are either concerned or very concerned about the outlook for the sector, with over 40 per cent saying that they are looking into reallocating programmes and resources as a way of saving money.

Around 36 per cent of trustees said linking up with another organisation was a first or second priority, while just 6 per cent reported that staff reduction was a top priority compared with 56 per cent who said it was their lowest priority.