Overview
Individuals are the largest source of voluntary income, and account for almost half of the sector’s total income (£22.3bn out of £47.8bn).
Voluntary income from individuals
- Voluntary income from individuals (ie donations and legacies) amounted to £10.9bn, accounting for just under half (49%) of the sector’s total income from individuals.
- Donations from individuals amounted to £7.8bn, representing over two-thirds (35%) of all individual income, and 16% of total income.
- Legacies totalled £3.1bn, accounting for 13% of income from individuals and 6% of total income.
Earned income from individuals
- Earned income from individuals amounted to £11.4bn, representing more than half (52%) of the total income generated from individuals.
- Earned income from individuals accounted for almost half of the sector’s earned income (46%) and a quarter of its total income (24%).
- Of the £11.4bn of earned income from individuals, £6.7bn (59%) came from charitable activities.
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Over time
Income from individuals continued to grow in 2015/16 and increased by £1.5bn
- Income from individuals amounted to £22.3bn in 2015/16, an increase of £1.5bn (7%) over the previous year.
- Earned income from individuals grew by £0.8bn, which is slightly faster than voluntary income from individuals, which grew by £0.6bn.
- Since 2011/12, earned income has consistently accounted for more than 50% of total income from individuals.
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By size
Income from individuals provides the largest proportion of income for every size of organisation
- Income from individuals makes up almost two-thirds of the income of micro and small organisations (58%) while this proportion is smaller for larger organisations (45%-47%).
- Income from individuals as a proportion of total income increased for all organisation sizes, except for small and micro and super-major organisations, between 2014/15 and 2015/2016.
- Organisations of all sizes generate more earned income from individuals than voluntary income, except for super-major organisations due to the amount they receive in legacies and the fact that they generate a smaller proportion of their income from their charitable activities.
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By subsector
Income from individuals is the most important source of income for a majority of subsectors
- Income from individuals accounts for over half of the total income of 11 subsectors out of 18.
- Some subsectors are particularly dependent on income from individuals: for instance, individuals provide 72% of the income for environmental organisations, 68% for parent teacher associations and 67% for religious organisations.
- The organisations the least dependent on income from individuals are employment and training organisations (23%) umbrella organisations (28%) and organisations in the international subsector (33%).
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