Introduction
360Giving has compiled this data to provide insight and understanding in to the grantmaking picture in the UK and to see what might be possible with the existing data available. This is our first sector-wide research project which is a stepping stone towards developing an approach to longer term analysis which will consider trends, but also provide a platform of base data that could then be used to “deep dive” in to specific areas.
The visualisations are interactive so can be explored further, and the data it is based on has also been shared so it can be put to other uses we might not have thought of, and for feedback. Visit the method and data page.
The ambition is to build on this work in future years and develop a new platform, working with a range of partners, to explore the grantmaking context and trends to support insight and practice.
Read more about our learning, ideas for the future, and provide your feedback on this work and what you would like to see in the future in our blog.
Key Findings
Total grantmaking to voluntary sector organisations from UK-based institutions is estimated at over £20bn in 2021-22
It should be noted that not all the grants made by UK-based institutions are received/spent in the UK. This compares to an income of almost £100bn for registered charities alone (£81.1bn reported by Charity Commission for England and Wales, £14.5bn for the Office of the Scottish Regulator, £2.6bn Charity Commission for Northern Ireland) plus more for Community Interest Companies, Exempt and Excepted charities, and Community Amateur Sports Clubs. This includes the income of the grantmakers themselves if they are registered as charities.
The charitable grantmaker segment provided the largest amount of grants by amount
The charitable grantmaker segments contributed an estimated £7bn (35% of the total) including Wellcome Trust and £6.2bn excluding – compared to almost £6.4bn (32%) for Government segments. However, there were over 11,000 organisations in these charitable grantmaker segments comprising 93% of the total number of organisations included.
The majority of grantmakers are very small
The majority (61%) give under £100k a year. There are only 28 organisations that giving over £100m a year – and of these only five were charitable grantmakers, including the Welcome Trust. The vast majority are government, lottery, operational charities giving to partners and Donor Advised Funds.
The majority of recipients are small charities
The majority of charity recipients (74%) in the 360Giving data have a turnover of under £1million – although as you might expected from organisations that have received grant funds, the profile of grant-funded organisations is larger than the profile of organisations on the Charity Commission register, which includes a high proportion of small charities. 59,659 (35%) of charities on the register have a turnover of under £5,000, so are less likely to be receiving grants.
Charity recipients are more likely to be working with specific communities than general charities
A higher proportion of charity recipients are registered to work with specific groups than those on the Charity Commission register as a whole. This includes Children and Young People (63% funded versus 56% on the register), Disabled People (45% versus 27%), Older People (36% versus 30%) and People of a particular Ethnic or Racial Origin (14% versus 9%).
Similarly, charity recipients are more likely to be working on specific and multiple themes of work than charities on the Charity Commission register – with the exception of those working on “Religious Activities”, “Overseas Aid” and “Animals”, which are less likely to receive grants.
Communities Supported and Themes of work
There is significant overlap in recipients between funder categories
Different types of funders who published their data had many recipients in common. The ecosystem of funding is very interdependent, even in a single year – but even more so between years. There are also a number of charities receiving six or more grants from 360Giving publishers within a single financial year, let alone multi-year grants and grants from non-publishers which they may also be receiving.
Who funds with who and Number of grants received
Grant duration is unknown or short term
Only 36% of publishers shared data on the duration of the grant, and those that did so made relatively short grants. Only 13% of the grants where duration was providedwere known to be three years or more, which represented just 4.7% of the grants overall.
This shorter term focus may reflect that Covid-19 emergency grants were still being made in 2021.
The majority of grants are small
In total, 1.4% of grants are for over £1 million (this represents around 5,700 grants, mostly awarded by Government funders), but these account for half of the amount granted. Most grants are small – over half of grants made are for £10,000 or less.