818 Fewer Funders. £379 Million More in Grants. What Is Happening?

Net Gain in Annual Expenditure Despite Fewer Funders

2,940 funders closed in E&W but 2,122 new ones registered. After adjusting for spend-out distortion, the sector gained £379m more than it lost. The sector is consolidating, not declining.

1.8x

New Funders Are Nearly Twice the Size

New funders have median expenditure of £30k vs £17k for closed funders. The sector is consolidating into fewer organisations with more money per funder. Each relationship matters more.

51%

Spend-Out Distortion in Final-Year Figures

Large funders distribute remaining assets before closing, inflating their last-year expenditure by 51%. Headline loss figures are consistently overstated. We adjusted using 5-year rolling averages to reveal the true picture.

-14.4pp

Health Is the Biggest Thematic Loser

Only 14.9% of new funders list health vs 29.3% of those that closed. Overseas aid is even worse: just 1.5% of new funders vs 15.6% of closed. The themes attracting new funders look nothing like those losing them.

+3.6pp

Disability Is the Standout Gainer

23.8% of new funders list disability vs 18.6% of all registered funders. Disability is one of the few themes where the funder pipeline is actively growing. General charitable purposes gained +8.4pp.

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1. 818 Fewer Funders, But £379 Million More in Grants

2. Year-by-Year: The Gap Widened Sharply in 2024–2025

3. The Spend-Out Factor

4. New Funders Are 1.8x Larger Than Those They Replace

5. The Thematic Landscape Is Shifting

6. Scotland: 297 New Funders, But Limited Closure Data

7. What This Means for Fundraisers