The Third Sector Trends study was undertaken between June and September 2025, and produced a representative sample of 8,680 respondents. The study only looks at England and Wales, but gives a useful UK context alongside the [Scottish Third Sector Tracker](https://scvo.scot/research/scottish-third-sector-tracker). **Key findings:** * Grants and giving, undoubtedly, remain the most valued sources of income in the third sector, followed by income from subscriptions and trading. * The popularity of grants is unquestionable, but not all TSOs rely on them. In 2025, 22% of voluntary organisations did not hold grants (that does not mean they never have, or do not intend to do so in future). Amongst those TSOs which have relationships with grant funders, the willingness of trusts and foundations to develop closer working relationships with voluntary organisations and to provide assistance with developing skills is highly valued and has returned to pre-pandemic levels. * In 2025 trusts and foundations have also been shown to be more willing to provide longer-term grant funding to many voluntary organisations (40%) which is a significant improvement from 2022 (32%). * There are also signs, however, that some grant funders may be shifting away from the provision of unrestricted funding since the pandemic. This has been accompanied by a renewed insistence that grantees are ‘innovative’ in their practice by some trusts and foundations. * It is perhaps concerning that there is a stronger emphasis on innovation in the poorest areas (69%) than in the richest (53%) as this may signify higher expectations of achievement in poor districts than affluent areas which are already stacked with higher levels of social capital. * Though once vaunted as the future of sector sustainability, income from contracts is now valued far less than was once the case even amongst the biggest organisations. * Sector interest in delivering public sector contracts has continued its long-term slide. The eagerness of middling-sized TSOs to accept service delivery contracts from public sector organisations has been on the wane for many years. What stands out in the analysis in 2025 is that the biggest TSOs are also now pulling out from such work: falling from 64% in 2016 to 50% now. Government has taken action to smooth procurement processes to entice TSOs into delivering public services. But the indications are that many organisations have become more decisive in their rejection of contracts as few state that non-participation is due to lack of support, information or barriers in the tendering process. * The appeal of and reliance upon trading may be becoming less common. Only 55% of TSOs set up since 2020 are engaged in trading compared with 66% of those set up between 1945-1979. * It is estimated that there are about 55,900 property owners, 9,800 of which gained the property by community asset transfer. Around 79,100 voluntary organisations rent property while 55,900 have free access to property for their own use. * About 45% of TSOs have not needed to draw on their reserves in the last year, irrespective of organisational size. * About 27% of TSOs were using reserves for essential purposes such as rent, energy bills and wages in 2025. * It may be a matter of concern that few TSOs are investing in their development; only 16% of TSOs have done so (rising from 11% of the smallest TSOs to 35% of the biggest). See also: [https://www.communityfoundation.org.uk/third-sector-trends/](https://www.communityfoundation.org.uk/third-sector-trends/) [https://nfpresearch.com/blog/2026-04-22-three-things-third-sector-trends-report-tells-us](https://nfpresearch.com/blog/2026-04-22-three-things-third-sector-trends-report-tells-us) --- ## About SCVO SCVO (Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations) is the national membership organisation for Scotland's voluntary sector. Our role is to champion the role of voluntary organisations in Scotland and to support them to do work that has a positive impact. SCVO supports members and the wider voluntary sector with all aspects of setting up and running a voluntary organisation. SCVO represents the needs and concerns of the voluntary sector to the Scottish government in Holyrood and UK government and Westminster. Through our learning and events programme SCVO offers training and development opportunities to the sector. Members access an extensive membership benefits package including specialist, in-depth, 1-to-1 guidance from our Information Services team and from professional service partners. Access to exclusive membership networks (including comms, employers, governance and policy) supports members to grow their connections, stay up to date, exchange ideas and views with peers, and learn through tailored, learning opportunities. SCVO members enjoy free access to Funding Scotland Premium to stay on top of funding opportunities to support their organisation’s financial resilience. Discounts and savings savings on SCVO products and services (including our HR service, managed IT support, payroll service and events and training) and partner offers provide members with support to allow them to focus on delivering their organisation’s goals. Further SCVO products and services include [extensive digital support](https://scvo.scot/support/digital), a climate action resource [Growing Climate Confidence](https://climateconfident.scot), a voluntary sector publication [Third Force News](https://tfn.scot) and a voluntary sector jobs and recruitment service [Goodmoves](https://goodmoves.org). For more information on SCVO membership, visit [SCVO membership](https://scvo.scot/membership)