January 24, 2025

A survey of Cumbrian voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) organisations has revealed that money is currently their biggest challenge.

Respondents were asked to rank a list of possible challenges affecting their organisation: People, Money, Policy, Partnerships or Planning?

Senior representatives from more than 60 organisations responded, with issues relating to Money (including funding, banking, grants and bid writing) voted as their greatest challenge.

More than half of the CCVS members who voted placed Money highest, increasing to more than two-thirds of non-member organisations.

Cumbia CVS CEO, Carolyn Otley, said of the results “Our survey highlights the very real and continuing struggle that many VCSFE organisations are facing. Short term funding makes their future uncertain, meaning it’s hard to retain skilled and experienced staff, and increased running costs make it hard to pay a decent wage that keeps pace with inflation. All in all, it’s a difficult and frustrating time for many of the organisations we support.”

Those completing the survey were given the opportunity to add comments and many did, with responses including:

“Sustaining the charity with funds is an annual battle”, “Finances are so stretched and funding is super competitive” and “Building repairs and maintenance are rarely covered by grants, it is a constant uphill battle”.

We will be analysing the results and comments to ensure our support is targeted appropriately. We will also be preparing a follow-up survey to dig deeper in to this topic, so that we can further adapt our services to improve our support for organisations with these challenges.