What do charity finance teams look like post-Covid?

Covid-19 has placed immense pressure on charities of all sizes, as they were forced to use their reserves to cope with the impact of the pandemic on their organisations. 

A recent report looking at charities’ income stream changes for the 2021/2022 financial year found that 47 per cent of charities surveyed said they had faced a drop in income compared to the period before the pandemic. Almost half said they also expected income from trading activity to fall more than 17 per cent next year. 

Amid this serious financial disruption in the sector, what do charity finance teams look like in this new post-Covid era, and what does this mean for reshaped teams? 

Funding gap cost jobs 

The multi-billion-pound funding gap in the UK charity sector cost the sector up to 25,600 jobs since the start of the pandemic, according to the Charity Sector Tracker. At the worst of the pandemic, that figure was expected to reach 60,000. 

In the first six months of the pandemic alone, 19 per cent of charities had made redundancies and one-in-ten at the time said they were expecting to reduce their workforce by 25-50 per cent. 

While the pressure on charities is expected to last into (at least) 2022 as many continue to use reserves to pay their day-to-day costs, the easing of lockdown measures has brought both opportunities and challenges. 

Looking forward 

Over the next year, seven in ten charities say that they are planning to change ways in which they operate, including onboarding new resources and recruiting new staff.  

Indeed, some 45 per cent of charities said they were embarking on a hiring campaign amid recovery in employer confidence. 

More than three in four organisations in the charities sector said they were planning to recruit in the next quarter, compared to 15 per cent of employers in the sector who were looking to downsize their workforce. 

While vacancies are booming, and demand for staff in charities is now above pre-pandemic levels, the sector is struggling to find the right talent to plug those gaps. Indeed, the average number of applications for every one job is lower than pre-Covid. 

Solutions for reshaped teams 

As budgets are tighter and hiring is more difficult, it is no surprise that 69 per cent of charities intend to make at least one change to their operations. Agility, innovation and challenging the status quo will be crucial for charities to navigate the months ahead.

In response to this challenge, we are also considering how our solutions can better suit the needs of today’s charities. This is why we’ve created RBQX, a partnership between Robertson Bell and award-winning outsourcing company QX. 

RBQX can bring clients an array of financial and recruitment solutions by outsourcing entry-level finance management including accounting, payroll, and software, which can reduce salary costs by up to 50 per cent and fill the vacancy void at junior level. 

If you are looking to reduce accounting costs, optimise your operations, and solve your recruitment challenges, contact one of our experts to discuss how we can help you.