UK: Donations fall down until 2011

Charitable giving will fall by 5% next year, according to Neil Parker, an economist at the Royal Bank of Scotland. Parker delivered his downbeat forecast to about 300 chief executives at the Acevo annual conference in London. “There is not a lot of good news, unfortunately,” he said.

Parker delivered his downbeat forecast to about 300 chief executives at the Acevo annual conference in London on Friday. “There is not a lot of good news, unfortunately,” he said.

Parker also said the property market would not recover until at least 2010. He added that the charity sector “faced significant problems”, but the one bright spot was that he thought the slowdown would be “less severe and shorter” than some other analysts had predicted.

Campbell Robb, director general of the Office of the Third Sector, cautioned against making predictions about giving based on economic data.

He said giving “confounds economists” and did not always rise and fall in line with economic conditions. He also said the OTS planned to approach the Pensions Regulator, which supervises the pensions industry, to “ensure the sector was getting the best advice” on pensions matters.

Sourche: Third Sector