Forty per cent of charities in the North East are hesitant about applying for grant funding as they feel they lack the resources to use it to their advantage, Garfield Weston Foundation has found.
Garfield Weston Foundation commissioned research into charities in the region after noticing a lack of applications for its grant funding during the recession. Some 182 small to medium-sized charities in the North East region, working in the areas of youth, community and welfare were interviewed.
Its research has shown that 64 per cent of charities surveyed are affected by government spending cuts, while nearly 60 per cent have found an increase in demand for their services in the last 18 months.
But, nearly 40 per cent of charities in the sample don’t feel they have enough staff time to make the most of grants and have fewer resources for doing this. They also lack the confidence to apply for grants for core costs.
Philippa Charles, the Garfield Weston Foundation’s director, told civilsociety.co.uk: “Nearly 40 per cent of the charities that we researched, and we spoke to 200 of them so this isn’t a small sample, said there income had decreased in the past year. And along side that, 60 per cent of them were telling us that demand was growing and of course that is a horrible balancing act to achieve because in effect you are trying to ask charities to do more with less.”
Over 85 per cent of the charities in the North East interviewed acknowledged that there is a current need to strengthen fundraising and income generation, while a quarter of charities are not confident in their ability to raise funds.
Weston Charity Awards to build capacity
In response, the Weston Charity Awards have been set up to help small charities in the North East working in the areas of youth, welfare and community. It will give charities access to a team of senior business leaders through the organisation Pilotlight, who are partners to the award.
Charles added: “Given what the charities were telling us about the lack of capacity they have and in some cases the lack of knowledge about what to do we thought this is not just about sending money.
“This is also about supporting them to become fit for the future – that is really what these awards are about. And helping charities build the knowledge and skills that they need to survive and be robust and that is why we devised these awards.”
Six award winners will be matched up with senior business mentors, who they will meet once a month. Mentors include senior people from organisations like Barclays, BP and Prudential. The winning charities will also receive £5000 to start with, which Charles said is to help make their lives easier so they can get the benefit of mentoring.
Charles said: “By creating the Weston Charity Awards we hope to give charities funded access to senior business mentoring to help them to become fit for the future and ultimately to grow, reaching more people in need.”
Applications should go to www.westoncharityawards.org to find out more.
