Acevo is not holding its annual dinner, which used to take place the evening before its annual conference, after years of losing money on its events programme.

A spokesman for the membership body for charity chief executives said the decision was taken to “focus resources on the conference” and that it was about “more than costs” but down to “logistics” as the event had been more “accessible for some members than others”. 

Last year’s dinner was held at the Victoria Park Plaza Hotel in London. A flier for that event said that the standard rate to host a table at the event was £2,500, or £2,000 for corporate partners, and that sponsorship of the drinks reception was £8,500 or £7,000 for corporate partners.  

Acevo's annual accounts show its conferences and events programmes have been running at a loss for the past five years. Since 2011 it has spent around £1.1m on conferences and recouped around £517,000 – an overall loss of around £584,000. 

In the year ending March 2015, the latest available accounts, Acevo earned £104,000, but spent £169,000. In 2014 it earned £105,000 and spent £154,000.

It last made a surplus in 2010, when it earned £274,000 and spent £257,000.

Acevo has also been losing money over the past five years on professional development and publications, which have cost it another £1.78m.