Membership of England’s largest umbrella organisation for the voluntary sector grew by more than 1,000 in 2021/22, its annual accounts have revealed today.
But NCVO had to dig into its reserves to “ensure continued service delivery” after posting a larger-than-expected £718,000 deficit.
The annual report and financial accounts for the year ending 31 March 2022 show that membership of the body grew by 4 per cent, from 16,000 to 17,102.
Numbers have continued to increase in the months since March this year and currently stand at 17,394, NCVO said.
The accounts tell a familiar tale of the voluntary sector’s battle to recover from Covid-19, while at the same time being hit by steepling costs.
An NCVO spokesman said: “Emergency grant support and the job retention scheme were no longer available for much of 21/22 as they were in the previous year.
“This was coupled with customer confidence not yet returning to pre-pandemic levels for face-to-face services and events.”
The report reveals that NCVO’s income dropped from £7.5m to £5.4m, while its expenditure declined more slowly, from £7.4m to £6.3m.
Dr Priya Singh, chair of trustees, said: “In 2021/22 many of the safety nets which had been put in place during the previous year of the pandemic were either not available or not available to the same extent, resulting in a tougher financial year as the sector grappled with ongoing restrictions.
“NCVO’s experience certainly mirrors that of our members and the wider sector, with a much more challenging year financially compared to the year before.”
Singh added: “Despite this financial picture we believed that making the choice to use our reserves to maintain our services for the voluntary sector while we rebuild our income streams – such as income from our conferencing and events suites – was vital and again reflected the challenging decisions being made across our sector during 2021 and 2022.”
A press release alongside the publication of the accounts said NCVO was “in discussions with” the Charities Aid Foundation over a fall in income from it.
The release said the £718,000 2021/22 deficit was more than the planned-for £250,000. The charity’s general reserves have been reduced from £3.8m to £3.4m to plug that deficit.
NCVO said 66 per cent of members had free membership, with 34 per cent paying fees.
While 1,492 members joined during the year, 849 let their membership lapse.
The press release added: “Despite reaching the milestone of 17,000+ members, membership growth slowed compared to the previous year, which saw extraordinarily fast growth as organisations turned to NCVO for support during the earlier stages of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“NCVO’s membership retention rate also dropped by 10 per cent in 2021/22. This drop reflects the impact of the second year of the Covid-19 crisis on voluntary organisations across the sector.”
NCVO also noted “erratic changes in the income of members, escalated sudden resignations and an increased number of organisations reporting that their reason for leaving NCVO membership was that they were closing due to the effects of the pandemic.”
All of the organisation’s 111 training programmes in 2021/22 were delivered online, while it recorded 852,000 users of its website and resources.
Singh said: “The need for NCVO to stand alongside and support members, the voluntary sector and volunteering was clearer than ever over the last year as we dealt with a series of rolling crises.
“The need for NCVO’s unique offer is once again reflected in our membership reaching the milestone of more than 17,000 members.”