Coronavirus: Rural charities face funding crisis
In Lincolnshire we have known this for months and are getting on and doing something about it through a peer support programme, developing action plans for the worst affected VCS bodies. If you want to know more drop me an email. The experience of RABI featured here is very typical. The article tells us:
Rural charities are facing a sharp drop in income, as the coronavirus crisis scuppers fundraising initiatives, but they are reassuring farming families there will be no cuts in the support on offer.
The cancellation of agricultural shows and events as varied as tractor runs, summer balls and YFC initiatives has led to a fall in donations to the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (Rabi).
“We will have a significant drop in our income this year because the structure of how we raise our voluntary income has been wiped from under us,” said Rabi chief executive Alicia Chivers.
“The expectation is that larger events aren’t going to happen anytime soon in 2020 – and that’s where we’ve got a gap.”
She pointed out, however, that would-be donors were thinking creatively, organising such events as a Virtual Tour of Pembrokeshire cycle ride and a virtual Kilimanjaro trek.
“People are doing some amazing things, but we have to accept – and it will be across the board for charities – that this situation will have an impact on our income, certainly in 2020,” she said.