More than one in five (22.3%) of the 94 UK charities surveyed by Aon Risk Solutions, the global risk management business of Aon Corporation, state they will need to re-evaluate whether their organisation can continue to operate financially, because of the government’s proposals for the Big Society.
More than one in 10 (11.7%) of those surveyed stated they may have to consider merging with another charity in order to keep their organisation running in some guise, as part of the online survey conducted by Aon over the last two weeks.
However, the greatest perceived impact on charities of the Big Society, is the necessity to shift focus away from the charitable acts toward fundraising in order to cover the shortfall due to government cuts, with nearly a third (32.9%) of respondents stating this as a worry as a result of the introduction of this policy.
| Do you think the government’s proposal for the Big Society will impact the way you run your organisation? | |
| Yes | 48.2% |
| No | 51.8% |
| If yes, how? | |
| I will need to rely more on volunteers | 48.8% |
| Staff reductions to cut costs | 31.7% |
| Conduct more fundraising activities to cover government cuts | 68.3% |
| Re-evaluate whether charity can afford to keep running | 46.3% |
| Re-evaluate whether charity should still operate, looking at possible mergers with other charities | 24.4% |
Ed Huston, client relationship manager with of Aon Risk Solutions commented: “The economic conditions of the last few years means many charities are already under a lot of strain just to keep going, and it seems the Big Society concept is heaping even more pressure on them.
“While not usually top of mind for most, the impact of all these changes can have severe impacts on the operational activities of charities. It is vital that these businesses work with their insurance broker to ensure their constantly changing risk profile is covered under their insurance policy. Working with a broker such as Aon to manage these risks means charities can continue to concentrate on the good work they are there to do.”
Source : Aon Press Release
