VONNE

In Summer 2009 VONNE commissioned Newskills Consulting to review national datasets and extract regional figures to show the funding mix behind third sector organisations in the North East.  This work was produced in anticipation of the Northern Rock Foundations' Third Sector Trends study into the size and scale of the sector (due for publication in December 2009).

VONNE hopes the two pieces of work can be read together to give an up-to-date insight into the financial profile of the North East's third sector.  Newskills full report can be downloaded as a pdf below.

Highlights and Key Messages

• 49% respondents receive funding from contracts with councils - this is slightly higher than the national average and shows that a significant proportion of the sector in the region have some experience of successful contracting.
• The sector also receives a greater proportion of contracts from NHS bodies or Strategic Health Authorities than organisations nationally (22%) - again an indicator of the relative strength of the sector in the region in this area.
• Regional third sector organisations view themselves as having more success applying or bidding for local income than national funding. 30% of regional organisations state that they have been very or fairly successful at applying or bidding for local income compared with just 20% citing success in applying or bidding for national income.
• However, a significant proportion (approximately half of all regional respondents) had never applied or bid to either local or national bodies over the last five years. The most important alternative sources of income for organisations include donations and fund-raising activities, membership fees and subscriptions, and earned income from trading (including retail).

Limitations to the Data

• Currently the most comprehensive source of information on sector funding which can be disaggregated at a regional level is the Office of the Third Sectors' National Survey of Third Sector Organisations (December 2008); this work is based on these figures. The survey only includes voluntary and community organisations, charities, and social enterprises on relevant registers (i.e. Charities Commission, Community Interest Companies register). The data therefore excludes unincorporated groups which make up a significant proportion of the sector.
• The regional response rate to the survey was slightly lower than the national; 44% organisations compared to 47% of organisations that were asked to participate responded. This equates to 2,835 bodies; however there are 8,252 registered charities in the region based on the Charity Commission's most recent figures. The Survey data therefore only covers about a third of registered charities and other voluntary bodies in the region.