Scottish charities are worried about getting enough money to fund their work, a survey has found.
Hundreds of charity trustees and members of the public have been quizzed by the Dundee-based charity regulator to see how the sector is coping during the economic downturn.
The biggest concern voiced by trustees was finance, with many of those taking part worried about cuts in government and council grants, meeting their running costs and what the report called “a general lack of money.”
Keeping membership levels up and difficulties in finding volunteers are also problems many charities are facing, but money is the single biggest issue they want the regulator to raise with ministers.
More than 1000 members of the public were also asked for their opinions of charities.
Their biggest concerns are the share of donations that go on administration costs rather than helping people and methods of fund-raising, with doorstep collections especially bags for clothes being a worry over whether donations are going to the right place.
The report said, “The recession appears to have had little impact on the proportion of the general public donating to charity. The main impact has been on the proportion donating money rather than goods or time.”
Awareness of the Office for the Scottish Charity Regulator, which is based at Quadrant House in Riverside Drive, was also high, with more than 86% of charity trustees saying it monitored the sector well.
Jane Ryder, the charity regulator’s chief executive, said, “We have already taken a number of steps to consider and address some of the issues raised.”
The regulator is already planning to streamline its reporting procedures to make it easier for smaller charities to comply with the rules and make more information available to the public.
Photo used under Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user HowardLake.