Public services and small charities

Overview

Around one in four small charities deliver public services ‘a great deal’ or ‘a fair amount’ as part of their work, compared to 59% of the largest charities.
62% of small charities do not deliver public services at all.
In 2017/18, small charities earned £1,140m in income from government to deliver public services on their behalf.
The value of government contracts has declined for charities of all sizes over a five-year period, most markedly for small charities with an income between £100k and £1m.
22% of small charities make a loss on their public sector contracts, and 61% of small charities subsidise public service contracts with income from other sources.

Around one in four small charities deliver public services ‘a great deal’ or ‘a fair amount’ as part of their work, compared to 45% of large charities and 59% of major charities.
62% of small charities do not deliver public services at all.

Government income was worth £2,034m to small charities in 2018/2019, covering both grants and funding for commissioned goods and services.
The value of government funding has declined for small charities over the past five years, and evidence suggests this is related to a shift from grant funding to commissioned and contract relationships as the most common approach to funding in the public sector.
Charities with an income of between £100k and £1m saw the steepest drop.

In 2020, 61% of small charities subsidise public service contracts with income from other sources.
One in five say they have delivered a contract outside of their core mission.
Small charities are much less likely than large and major charities to walk away from public contracts because of operational risk or mission drift.

In 2016, one in five small charities make a loss on the public service contracts they deliver.
Half break even and three in ten make a profit.

insights

Explore data on how small charities perceive demand for their services and how this has changed

insights

How much money do small charities receive from the government?