The grantmaking picture
In the following sections, we show the full spectrum of UK bodies who make grants to the voluntary sector, in five broad categories:
- Trusts and Foundations – 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.
- Government – grantmaking by central, local, devolved government and Arms Length Bodies. Comprehensive data for local and devolved governments could not be sourced. An estimate has been provided for local authorities.
- National Lottery Distributors – grants made by the National Lottery distributors from National Lottery and other sources.
- Charities – grantmaking alongside other charitable activities or in the support of a single cause or institution.
- Other – Donor-Advised Funds and companies.
- Devolved governments have been excluded due to a lack of reliable data.
The analysis uses data from annual returns to charity regulators, charity and other accounts, and data published using the 360Giving Data Standard. More details are available in our methodology.
Total grantmaking by UK grantmakers
After an adjustment for potential double-counting between organisations within the segments due to regranting or double-reporting (as indicated in the table below), the total grantmaking in 2024-25 is estimated to be over £24bn – an increase of around 4% on the previous year.
Number and size of UK grantmakers
360Giving analysis of data from charity regulators, charity and other accounts, and data published using the 360Giving Data Standard.
No estimates are available for devolved governments.
Known grants provided to other organisations for regranting includes amounts distributed through Donor Advised Funds from Trusts and Foundations included elsewhere in the tables to avoid double-counting in the total.
Within each category, we have grouped grantmakers into different segments determined by the type of organisation they are. Further details can be found in the methodology. The table below sets out the number of grantmakers and their grantmaking spend by segment.
Number and size of UK grantmakers
360Giving analysis of data from charity regulators, charity and other accounts, and data published using the 360Giving Data Standard.
*Local government and Company giving figures are estimates provided by the Directory of Social Change from 2023/24. The company giving figures in the table above include all contributions identified by the Directory of Social Change, excluding gifts-in-kind, so may be over-estimating the voluntary grant amount.
The chart below shows the diversity of trends across the last three years among the different segments. Each segment is explored further in the following sections.
Regranting
We also look at how funding flows between different grantmakers. This helps us understand the wider picture, identify any double-counting in the figures above, and track these trends.
We have used the broad term ‘regranting’ to represent the flows of these finances, but it reflects a variety of practices. Some examples include:
- Major funding appeals which have engaged local funding partners to distribute funds in a specific area.
- Collaborations between funders on shared programmes or pooled funds
- Funding provided to specialist organisations to distribute funds to members of specific communities.
- Match funding schemes where one funder is matching the funds awarded by another to the same recipients.
UK context
There is no definitive figure for the total amount of voluntary sector income in 2024-25. We lack data on organisations that are not registered charities to fully scale the sector. Because the grantmaking in this report includes grants to overseas organisations and unregistered UK groups, providing an exact figure for the proportion of income coming from UK grantmaking is difficult. However, based on previous analysis, we estimate that grantmaking represents between 18-22% of the sector’s income.
For context, the UK Data Spine research project estimated that there are approximately 369,000 active civil society organisations, this includes:
- 194,000 active charities (53%)
- 41,000 Community Interest Companies (CICs) (11%)
- 12,000 co-operatives and mutuals (3%)
- 122,000 other non-profit companies (33%).
This final category includes community amateur sports clubs and organisations registered as charities with HMRC but not with the main charity regulators. It also includes “exempt and excepted” charities, such as English universities.
Regulator Data
The combined income of organisations registered with the UK’s three charity regulators for 2024–25 is approximately £121.6bn.
However, this figure includes some double-counting. For example, it counts income received by grantmakers that is then redistributed to other charities, as well as income received by cross-border organisations that report to multiple regulators. Not all registered organisations are currently active.
| Charity Regulator | Number of registered charities | Estimated income (billions) |
| Charity Commission for England and Wales | 171,173 | £101.9 |
| Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator | 24,696 | £18.2 |
| Charity Commission for Northern Ireland | 7,205 | £1.5 |
| Total* | 203,074 | £121.6 |
Once we exclude foundations and cross-border duplicates, we estimate there are over 185,000 active registered charities with a total income of over £110bn.
Sector Growth and Trends
Charity Commission for England & Wales analysis of 2024 Annual Return data found that income increased by 5.6% compared to the previous year returns, which aligns with the increases seen in grantmaking. (Note: The time periods for these analyses do not match exactly, and the Charity Commission’s data includes some universities and Arms Length Bodies)
This above-inflation growth in sector income and expenditure reflects the rising costs of services and growing community needs. While grant growth appears slightly lower than overall income growth, grants remain a vital lifeline for the sector during uncertain times.
Reflections
Despite accounting for less than a quarter of the sector’s overall income, grantmaking is critical, representing the majority of income for some organisations. Grantmaking also funds activities that wouldn’t happen without grants, including 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 cover the full costs.
Grantmaking has continued to grow during this period, as has our understanding of the grantmaking picture. It is positive to see that regranting and collaborations continue, with even more that might not be visible in the available data.
A note on data quality
We have seen improvements to the quality of data available, which has supported an improved understanding of the ecosystem and the overall picture. However, the lack of data from local authorities and devolved governments is a barrier to understanding, especially the local grantmaking picture. In both these cases, the details of the specific grants are not available in a comprehensive way using the 360Giving Data Standard, and we were unable to source totals for these figures from each organisation.
This lack of data impacts decision-making within these organisations, as well as impacting the understanding of the overall picture.
We will explore other types of grantmakers and their grantmaking in subsequent sections of our analysis. We hope, in future years, to work with local authorities and devolved governments to improve the data available.