New research from CAF finds that larger charities saw an £855m drop in voluntary income between 2007 and 2009, while medium-sized organisations saw a slight increase.

The analysis, which is drawn from the annual returns of the 162,363 charities registered with the Charity Commission, reveals that the voluntary income of large charities (those with an income of over £10m) fell by nearly 11 per cent (£855m) between 2007 and 2009.

In contrast, medium-sized charities with an income between £500,000 and £10m, saw their voluntary donations increase by 2.2 per cent over the same period. 

Jane Arnott, senior advisory manager at the Charities Aid Foundation, said: “Perhaps somewhat surprisingly the impact of the recent recession has been more strongly felt by larger charities.  This may be a result of the importance of ‘local’ charities to donors or the fact that people may be substituting long term charity commitments for more ad hoc contributions, such as sponsoring friends and family.

“While smaller charities have seen a modest increase in voluntary income it is still some way below inflation and we fully expect charities to continue to experience difficulties over the next few years, as the sector feels the full effect of public spending cuts and the continuing difficult economic climate.”