The analysis of the grantmaking picture uses data based on annual returns to the Charity Commission for England and Wales (CCEW), the Scottish Charity regulator (OSCR) and the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (CCNI) as well as other regulators. 360Giving has amended the data where necessary by referencing the grantmaker’s published accounts. Figures for grantmakers who do not publish their accounts have been taken from data they have published about their grantmaking.

Note that local authorities and devolved governments have had to be excluded from this because there is no reliable data available. This represents over £1 billion of grants data that is missing from the overall picture.

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For this analysis, we have organised UK grantmakers into a number of different segments based on their characteristics, with five broad categories. The categories are:

• Grantmaker – UK trusts and foundations making grants, generally to charities and non-profit groups in the UK. Includes community foundations, family and corporate foundations and others.
• Charity – grantmaking alongside other charitable activities or in the support of a single cause or institution.
• Government – grantmaking by central, local, devolved government and arms-length bodies. Comprehensive data for local and devolved governments could not be sourced.
• Lottery – grants made by the National Lottery distributors.
• Other – Donor-advised funds, companies and international grantmakers.

More detail on this segmentation is available in our methodology.

UK context

There is no definitive figure for the total amount of voluntary sector income in 2022-23 to compare these figures to. The total income of organisations registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator and the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland for 2022-23 is in excess of £100bn – including grantmakers – so this represents some double counting in income received by funding organisations that is then redistributed to other charitable organisations.

In the last year for which analysis is available (2020-21), NCVO estimated in the UK Civil Society Almanac 2023 that around 47% of sector income came from the public and 30% from government – including government contracts. 

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Further analysing the NCVO figures suggests that grantmaking represents an estimated 14-22% of sector income. This is in line with the level of grantmaking identified in this analysis.Although some of the grants in the UKGrantmaking totals are to small unregistered organisations which are under-represented in the NCVO and regulator sector figures. In addition, community interest companies and overseas organisations are included as grant recipients but do not appear in the sector profile.

However, despite making up less than a quarter of the sector income overall, grantmaking is a really critical source of income to the sector, representing the majority of income for some organisations. Grantmaking also funds some activities that wouldn’t happen without the contribution of grants, including activities supporting individuals and communities unable to pay for services and causes or organisations that are less suitable for public fundraising or where fundraising or fees cannot pay the full costs.