The government is today being urged to draw up a philanthropy and charitable giving strategy after new research revealed four in five voluntary organisations are battling rising demand for their services.
The work by Charities Aid Foundation also found that only about two in five charities (38 per cent) are confident they can meet that demand.
The figure is considerably down on the 54 per cent confidence level when a similar CAF survey was carried out in January.
CAF extracted the data from research carried out with 621 charity leaders.
It found that, with inflation remaining high, 55 per cent of charities are confident they can meet their current overheads, including energy, rent and supplies – a small increase from 50 per cent in January.
In addition, 46 per cent have used their reserves to cover shortfalls in income.
However, 36 per cent say they have a plan in place to help them face the cost-of-living crisis, with 43 per cent having asked funders for help.
Neil Heslop OBE, chief executive of CAF, said: “Charities are still feeling stretched. They are worried about recruiting staff and struggling to meet demand for their help.
“Like the rest of us, they are having to adjust to inflation being higher – but they face the added challenge of people needing them more than ever, while donors’ incomes are squeezed.”
He added: “Britain can’t afford to have charities facing such uncertainty. We need a resilient, vibrant charities sector supported by a renewed culture of giving.
“That is why the UK needs for the government to draw up a strategy for philanthropy and charitable giving to mobilise effort across society and business.”
The survey also found that staffing was emerging as a major issue for many charities.
About half (53 per cent) say they can afford their current staffing levels, while three in five (60 per cent) are struggling to recruit or retain suitably qualified candidates or volunteers, a significant increase from 43 per cent in January’s survey.
Seven in 10 (70 per cent) charities now say the rising cost of living is affecting their workforce, compared to 53 per cent at the start of the year.
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