5th December 2007

NEW LAUNCH CARITAS MAGAZINE REVEALS INNOVATIVE RESEARCH ON THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR’S ASSETS

The top 100 charities by net assets are worth a total of £45bn, representing 50 per cent of the total net asset value of the voluntary sector, according to research by CaritasData and analysis by Cathy Pharoah in Caritas magazine, publishing for the first time this month.

The article looks at the top 100 charities by total fund values and analyses the value of different types of assets and investments along with comparative growth trends between 2001/02 -2005/06, revealing the important link between the sector's financial health and the health of the wider economy.

Funds for the top 100 charities saw real-term growth of 22 per cent over the period, with the most rapid growth area being their aggregate investment portfolio which grew by 34 per cent to £39bn by 2005/06.

Cathy Pharoah, visiting Professor of Charity Funding, Sir John Cass Business School, and director of Third Sector Prospect Consultancy, says:

"The voluntary sector's role as guardian of major national assets goes strangely unnoticed compared with the huge wave of public and government interest in sector service provision. Yet it has a large and growing role in looking after important national assets. Furthermore, the scale and scope of the assets now held by the voluntary sector means that it is increasingly sensitive to trends in the wider economy."

The research shows that 57 per cent of all funds are held in unrestricted reserves. General reserves alone amounted to £20bn in 2005/06, which would cover 36 months of expenditure. This paints a picture of strength by no means typical of the sector and is down to the presence of many large foundations in the sample with a high level of funds and lower expenditure/fund ratios compared with operating charities.

Launching on 5 December, Caritas magazine is a new monthly magazine for leaders and senior managers in the non-profit sector. In addition to CaritasData tables, trends and statistical analysis, Caritas magazine also features practical, hands-on management information and thought provoking opinion pieces written by key influencers and leading experts. Each issue will contain features on governance, finance, law, management and fundraising strategy.

Clarissa Dann, Editor of Caritas magazine, says "More than ever, charities are a force to be reckoned with. Non- profits need to be efficient, compliant, visible and effective but can't lose sight of what they were set up to do. This places enormous strain on their executives and governing boards. Caritas magazine has been launched in response to this challenge'

Notes to editors

1. This research is taken from the first article in a new CaritasData Trends series to be published in each issue of Caritas magazine. For more information or for data enquiries, contact Mark Pincher, Data Research Manager at CaritasData, on 020 7324 2362.

2. Part of Waterlow Legal & Regulatory Ltd, CaritasData publishes a range of print and web products tracking and analysing the financial performance of charities, including Top 3000 Charities, and provides information for grant seekers and fundraisers in Charity Funding Report, Codicil magazine and Charity Funding Online. For more information on CaritasData please visit www.caritasdata.co.uk

3. Cathy Pharaoh is Director of Third Sector Prospect, an independent research consultancy and Honorary Visiting Professor in Charity Funding at the Sir John Cass Business School. She was Director of Research at CAF until August 2006. Cathy sits on the advisory board for Caritas magazine.

4. Other members of the advisory board for Caritas magazine are: Pesh Framjee, partner and head of non profits, Deloitte; Stephen Lloyd, partner and head of charity and social enterprise law, Bates Wells & Braithwaite; Nigel Scott, course director of charity MSc course at the London South Bank University; and Mike Lake, director general of Help the Aged.

5. For general press enquiries, contact Zara Ryan on 020 7324 2354.