NPC planned to launch and update its State of the Sector programme of work later this year looking at the perceptions of leading charities around what makes the sector effective and the issues it faces.  However, in light of the COVID-19 crisis and the likelihood that charities will form a big part of the response (and be adversely affected) NPC is releasing selected results now.

The hope is that these selected results will give a picture of the challenges charities were facing just before the crisis, so these factors can be included in the targeting of funding and support from philanthropists and government, as well as the planning of any response, to maximise its effectiveness for the country, and for the sector.

Important findings include:

• Charity leaders reported doing more in almost every area than 2017 and so may have been spread thinly when the crisis hit. For example, in 2017 83% of charities said they were delivering services or products. In 2019/20 this rose to 89%.
• Less than half (47%) of charities believed that independent funders offered the flexible core funding which NPC expects will be vital to keeping them afloat in the crisis.
• Charities’ confidence on their ability to use digital technology has dropped by 11 percentage points to 59% from 70% since 2017. This may leave them struggling to shift services online to reach isolated people during quarantine and social isolation.