Average income of charities rose by four percent

The average annual income of registered charities in England and Wales rose by four per cent over the past year to £391,000 according to data from the Charity Commission.

Figures on the Charity Commission’s website also show that over the past year the sector’s total income grew by £3.1billion, or 5.1 percent, to £64.2billon.

The figures are based on annual returns provided by charities to the regulator during the year to the end of June 2014. Because charities have 10 months to file this information, the new data mostly relates to the financial years ending in 2013 or late 2012.

Further analysis of the figures by the accountancy firm MHA MacIntyre Hudson, based on its own records of previous data releases from the Charity Commission, shows that total charitable expenditure rose by 3.1 percent to £53.54billion over the same period. This equates to 87 percent of income, a figure that has declined slightly from a peak of 89 percent in September 2012, the firm's data shows.

Voluntary income grew by £249million over the year to a total of £19.56billion. This was generated from just over £2billion spent on this purpose, meaning the sector earned nearly £10 for every pound spent on fundraising activities.