Following much detailed planning and calculation by both acevo last year and NCVO last month, the government today announced its financial support for the third sector.
NCVO and acevo had calculated £100 and £500m respectively and whilst the latter may have been a tad ambitious, the actual amount announced by Liam Burne is £42.5m. This is the man who infamously sent an 11-page memo to his support staff outlining specifically at what times and in what ways he demanded soup and coffee during his tenure.
The plan comprises a £16.5m ‘modernisation fund’ to help charities looking at mergers and collaborations, a £15.5m ‘community resilience fund’ and a £10m volunteer brokerage scheme. BUT, if your organisation is already working with local government to support volunteering, then it's unlikley you will be eligible!
With more redundancies on the horizon it must be a higher priority to help charities organise volunteering opportunities and seek different streams of funds to use creatively. But even those offered in this package are effectively restricted and don't enable fundraisers to target their specific issues!
By way of scale, I looked up how much we have spent on the war in Iraq so far. Depending on which source you use, the UK government's spend to date is between £7.5 and £9 billion!
I also looked up how much the government has 'given' to the banking industry. So far, it's around £50 billion to buy shares in the banks to keep them afloat plus just over £30 billion from the previous round of support before Christmas. This doesn't include the loan guarantees etc.
How can fundraisers honestly be expected to jump up and down for joy at today's announcement?
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Unite, the UK's largest union and which has 60,000 members in the voluntary sector, isn't impressed either. They say it's "a step in the right direction, but won't be enough in the long-term."
Rachael Maskell, Unite's National Officer, Community and Non Profit Sector said: "When you put this £42 million in context, given that voluntary organisations employ more than 600,000 staff and look after the growing recession-driven needs of millions of people, it is a drop in the ocean."
"This money needs to be used strategically to provide stability for the Third Sector; to halt the job cuts and maintain vital services - but it is simply not enough. We will be raising the level of government funding, once more, with the minister for the Third Sector, Kevin Brennan. The figure we are looking at is £200 million as a starting point, with regular reviews as the recession progresses.'
She added: "For many charities, the financial situation is bleak. However, ministers have lavished attention and vast sums of money on the bankers who contributed to this financial crisis."
"We are calling for more of this ministerial energy to be diverted to the voluntary and community sector, whose caseloads are rising dramatically because of the present situation. Resources should also be committed to preventative services, such as community arts."
www.amicustheunion.org
Howard Lake @howardlake www.fundraising.co.uk