Volunteer centres are struggling to pull in funding, according to NCVO, with 63 per cent of those that responded to an annual survey reporting a fall in income last year.

Forty per cent reported that the drop in income was 25 per cent or more. Just over a quarter saw an increase in funding in 2011/12 compared to the previous year and 11 per cent saw their income stay within 1 per cent of the 2010/11 levels, according to NCVO’s Annual Return for Volunteer Centres.

The average income for volunteer centres has also fallen to the lowest point since 2008/09. The median average income was £52,500, a fall of £3,932 from the previous year.

NCVO’s executive director for volunteering and development, Justin Davis Smith (pictured) said: “The pressure many volunteer centres are under at the moment is daunting, with many carrying on through enormous dedication and innovation from staff and volunteers.

“The picture is not universally bleak – some volunteer centres had success in developing new work and sources of income this year. However it is crucial that all volunteer centres have the chance to develop new ways of working and income sources, and sudden sharp funding cuts make that harder to achieve.”

The report notes that the number of centres receiving income from central government sources has dropped from almost a quarter in 2010/11 to 7 per cent in 2011/12. Central government income now accounts for 2 per cent of the combined income of all respondents, compared to 10 per cent last year.

Income from local government is still the most prevalent income source, with 83 per cent of centres receiving income from this source, although this is slightly down on last year when it was 89 per cent. Those that did receive income from

The percentage receiving income from fees or services also fell from 43 per cent in 2010/11 to 38 per cent in 2011/12 – but this still higher than in 2009/10.

NCVO and Nesta are working on a programme to support piloting innovative ideas in volunteer centres.

NCVO sent an online survey to 261 volunteer centres in late 2012 and received responses from 160, 107 of these completed last year’s survey. The research was previously carried out by Volunteering England which merged with NCVO last year.

 

Want access to all civilsociety.co.uk content? Subscribers gain access to all expert advice, analysis, surveys, special reports and the full archive of content from as little as £43.20 per year. Find out more...