According to a paper by David Clifford of the University of Southampton and John Mohan of the Third Sector Research Centre at the University of Birmingham, around 10% of charities could only operate for a few days if they had to rely on their reserves.
More concerning is that fact that the average level of reserves, as reported in the accounts of 12,000 charities, is just under 4 months.
I would encourage you to check your organisations reserves policy, and that it is still fit for purpose, in the current circumstances.
The report is called ‘Assessing the Financial Reserves of English and Welsh Charities on the Eve of the Covid-19 Pandemic‘ and you can use it to benchmark your own organisation.
If you would like to review your reserves policy, or create a policy that reflects your circumstances more accurately, why not start with a free 20-minute insight call?