Women’s and girls’ charities suffer from low funding, research finds
Emily Harle
Friday, April 21, 2023
The women and girls sector receives a disproportionately low amount of funding, a report has found, with organisations in the sector receiving just 1.8 per cent of total grants awarded to charities in 2021.
The research, which is the first to map the funding in the UK women and girls sector, found that one third of all grants recorded on 360Giving focused on women’s and girls’ work in 2021 went to non-women’s and girls’ organisations.
The majority of the grants awarded to women’s and girls’ organisations were also small in value – more than half of the grants awarded to these charities were less than £10,000, according to the report by grant-making organisation Rosa.
The research found that smaller organisations received less funding on average, with just 3.9 per cent of all income for women’s and girl’s charities going to small organisations, despite them accounting for 87 per cent of the sector.
These organisations were also found to depend more on the work of volunteers than other charities in the UK. Although women’s and girl’s charities account for just 3.5 per cent of all charities, the report finds that their volunteers make up 6.6 per cent of the total number of volunteers across the charitable sector.
The research was conducted by The Centre for Regional, Economic and Social Research (CRESR) at Sheffield Hallam University, and was commissioned by Rosa, National Lottery Community Fund and Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.
The report outlines a number of recommendations to grant-makers to address the funding gap between women’s and girl’s organisations and other charities, including a call for more women and girls-focused funding to be made available.
It also calls for grant makers to consider providing additional and focused support for women’s and girls’ charities, so that work which benefits the welfare of women and girls can be conducted by organisations run specifically by and for them.
Rebecca Gill, chief executive of Rosa, said: “The UK’s women and girls sector is not getting the investment it needs or deserves and this is putting its long-term sustainability at risk, to the detriment of women and girls across the country.
“It is our hope that our fellow funders across the UK and internationally will use this research to consider how they actively and sustainably support, invest in and commission the women and girls sector over the coming years.”
Annabel Durling, funding manager at Esmée Fairbairn, said: “This research highlights the extent the sector is underfunded and need for more investment to ensure they are able to continue their valuable work.”
Amanda Azeez, director of communications, marketing and fundraising at girls' charity Girlguiding added: "We believe it's vital that organisations are provided with the funding they need to support girls and young women's wellbeing and life chances."
