Over the last week or so, I have come across various instances of people commenting on how hard it is for charities in the current economic climate.

The first was a news article about how charities are turning to investment markets for new sources of funding during hard times, commenting that “with public donations…falling, one in six British charities have said they are concerned they might have to close this year.”

The second instance was a conversation between two men talking about how hard it is for charities to find finding, with them commenting that “it’s really hard for charities, there’s no money out there at present – people can’t afford to donate, government funding and grant funding is being cut to next to nothing, investment returns are low…”

The final instance was during a charity audit course where the presenter, herself a trustee of a charity, was commenting that going concern is a key area at present given how much charities are struggling to find the resources to carry out their activities, at the very time when their services are required more than ever.

I do not know these specific circumstances of the organisations referred to above; the comments may reflect these. However, the comments seem very broad and generalised.

Now we all know that the British love to moan (queues and the weather spring to mind as two frequent complaints). But as the above are the common comments of charity funding, and two of the three specific examples above come from people involved in charities, surely this isn’t just a moan. Charities are finding it tough; there’s very little funding around.

But is that true? Evidence suggests otherwise. Looking at the data published by the Charity Commission for gross income levels recorded by charities for each year since 1999, income has increased every year. In the same period, the number of registered charities has fallen. Therefore, across the same period, average income per charity has actually increased year-on-year.

Income reported by large charities (in excess of £10million per annum) accounts for around half of the total income received by charities (ranging from 43% in 1999 to 57% in 2012). Therefore, one might argue that income for smaller charities is being squeezed – events such as Comic Relief, Sports Relief and Children In Need are massive events that energise the general public at large, and so people carry out events for these charities, perhaps to the detriment of smaller charities.

But again, this argument is not supported by the numbers. In the period 1999 – 2012, the number of large charities has increased year-on-year, as has the average income of these large charities. For ‘smaller’ charities, the number of charities has fluctuated from year to year over this period, whilst average income for such charities has increased every year.

Looking at the split of income, voluntary income has continued to increase. Investment income has continued to increase. Trading income has increased. Income from charitable activities, has fluctuated slightly, but is relatively constant.

So, the numbers do not appear to support the view that there is very little funding around.

Income may be increasing, but I know from my own work with charity clients there are certain types of funding that are being cut or are harder to obtain. Therefore, charities are having to review income streams, be innovative, be efficient. And the statistics above indicate that charities are doing this and doing this well.

Are times hard? Yes they are. But you know what? Perhaps it’s good that they are hard. If it was easy to attract income, there is a risk complacency sets in, income is taken for granted, and services/performance suffers.

Therefore, the age old adage that for every problem there’s an opportunity seems more appropriate than ever. The current climate is allowing charities to strive constantly to review their aims, provide efficient services and ensure the money received is meeting their public benefit objectives. So let’s take the opportunity to build upon the fine work charities are doing, continue to be innovative and forward thinking, and support the sector.