How many people work for small charities?

  • Just under half of the workforce in the voluntary sector are employed by charities with fewer than 25 staff – over 400,000 people.
  • Among those, 238,000 (28%) work for charities with fewer than 10 staff.
  • 60,000 people (7%) work for charities with over 500 staff.

How has the small charity workforce changed over time?

  • The number of people working for charities with fewer than 25 employees has increased by 13% over five years, from 365,000 to 413,000.
  • The biggest growth has been among charities with between 11-19 employees, which increased by 30% over the same period.
  • The number of people working for the very largest charities – with over 500 employees – increased by 50% between 2014 and 2019.

How many people volunteer for small charities?

  • On average, for every one member of staff four people volunteer for small charities.
  • Smallest charities have higher numbers of volunteers per paid staff member, on average. Charities with an income under £10k have on average 36 volunteers and 2 paid members of staff.

Further Reading