Research
UK Charity Cause Income and Reserves Health Index
Which charitable causes bring in the most income, and which run closest to the wire on reserves? Median income and free-reserves health for every cause classification on the England and Wales register, compiled from the Charity Commission full-register extract. Updated 2026-08-04.
Median income by charitable cause
For each of the 24 cause classifications on the Charity Commission register, the chart and table below show the median gross income of charities carrying that classification code, alongside how many charities carry it. Income is heavily skewed by a small number of very large charities, so the median (the typical charity) is a far more useful figure than the average.
The spread is wide: from £53,344 for Accommodation / housing charities down to £15,000 for Environment / conservation / heritage charities. A charity can carry more than one classification, so the counts describe charities with that code rather than unique organisations.
| Charitable cause | Charities | Median income | Median reserves | Under 3 months |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accommodation / housing | 7,639 | £53,344 | 4.5 mo | 39.6% |
| Religious activities | 34,716 | £45,077 | 5.4 mo | 38.3% |
| Human rights / equality / diversity | 6,616 | £42,649 | 3.7 mo | 43.7% |
| Armed forces / emergency services | 986 | £41,610 | 7.8 mo | 29.8% |
| People of a particular ethnic or racial origin | 14,887 | £37,074 | 3.8 mo | 43.1% |
| Economic / community development | 20,380 | £34,523 | 3.5 mo | 44.8% |
| Animal welfare | 4,328 | £33,569 | 8.8 mo | 26.7% |
| Health / saving of lives | 26,964 | £31,974 | 4.9 mo | 35.5% |
| Disability | 25,099 | £29,330 | 4.3 mo | 38.7% |
| Prevention / relief of poverty | 32,613 | £27,569 | 4.1 mo | 41.7% |
| People with disabilities | 43,815 | £26,452 | 4.1 mo | 40.3% |
| General public / mankind | 86,593 | £26,216 | 4.5 mo | 39.6% |
| Other charities / voluntary bodies | 39,222 | £25,943 | 4.6 mo | 40.2% |
| Other defined groups | 25,823 | £24,471 | 4.5 mo | 36.4% |
| Education / training | 81,021 | £23,810 | 4.2 mo | 40.4% |
| Overseas aid / famine relief | 9,244 | £23,737 | 4.1 mo | 43.9% |
| Other charitable purposes | 14,301 | £23,436 | 4.1 mo | 41.1% |
| Elderly / older people | 49,393 | £23,090 | 4.4 mo | 39% |
| Recreation | 17,030 | £21,861 | 3.3 mo | 47.1% |
| Children / young people | 91,167 | £20,986 | 4 mo | 41.4% |
| Arts / culture / heritage / science | 29,017 | £20,222 | 3.5 mo | 45.5% |
| General charitable purposes | 55,903 | £18,386 | 4.5 mo | 39.6% |
| Amateur sport | 25,259 | £17,542 | 3.8 mo | 43% |
| Environment / conservation / heritage | 18,227 | £15,000 | 4.3 mo | 41.7% |
Source: Charity Commission full-register extract (OGL v3.0), 2026-08-04. Median income is each charity's latest reported gross income. Registered, main charities only.
Reserves health by charitable cause
Reserves health is shown as median months of free reserves (free reserves divided by annual expenditure) and the share of charities in each cause holding under three months of reserves. A low figure is not automatically a problem: many grant-funded and community charities deliberately run lean. What matters is a written reserves policy that justifies the level held.
| Charitable cause | Median reserves (months) | Under 3 months of reserves |
|---|---|---|
| Recreation | 3.3 mo | 47.1% |
| Arts / culture / heritage / science | 3.5 mo | 45.5% |
| Economic / community development | 3.5 mo | 44.8% |
| Overseas aid / famine relief | 4.1 mo | 43.9% |
| Human rights / equality / diversity | 3.7 mo | 43.7% |
| People of a particular ethnic or racial origin | 3.8 mo | 43.1% |
| Amateur sport | 3.8 mo | 43% |
| Prevention / relief of poverty | 4.1 mo | 41.7% |
| Environment / conservation / heritage | 4.3 mo | 41.7% |
| Children / young people | 4 mo | 41.4% |
| Other charitable purposes | 4.1 mo | 41.1% |
| Education / training | 4.2 mo | 40.4% |
| People with disabilities | 4.1 mo | 40.3% |
| Other charities / voluntary bodies | 4.6 mo | 40.2% |
| Accommodation / housing | 4.5 mo | 39.6% |
| General public / mankind | 4.5 mo | 39.6% |
| General charitable purposes | 4.5 mo | 39.6% |
| Elderly / older people | 4.4 mo | 39% |
| Disability | 4.3 mo | 38.7% |
| Religious activities | 5.4 mo | 38.3% |
| Other defined groups | 4.5 mo | 36.4% |
| Health / saving of lives | 4.9 mo | 35.5% |
| Armed forces / emergency services | 7.8 mo | 29.8% |
| Animal welfare | 8.8 mo | 26.7% |
Source: Charity Commission full-register extract (OGL v3.0), 2026-08-04. Free reserves are the trustees' own declared reserves figure from the most recent annual return (part B), divided by latest expenditure. "Under 3 months" is the share of charities in that cause with fewer than three months of free reserves.
Frequently asked questions
Which charitable causes have the highest income?
Across the 24 cause classifications on the Charity Commission register, Accommodation / housing charities report the highest median gross income at £53,344, followed by Religious activities (£45,077) and Human rights / equality / diversity (£42,649). At the other end, Environment / conservation / heritage charities report the lowest median at £15,000. These are medians, so half of the charities in each group report less than the figure shown. A single charity can be classified under more than one cause, so the counts reflect charities carrying that classification code rather than unique organisations.
What does median income by cause actually mean?
Each registered charity reports a latest gross income figure to the Charity Commission. For every cause classification we take the median of those figures across all charities carrying that code. The median (the midpoint value) is used rather than the mean (average) because charity income is heavily skewed: a small number of very large charities would otherwise pull the average far above what a typical charity in that cause group actually reports. The median is a much better description of the typical charity.
How is reserves health measured here?
Reserves health is expressed as months of free reserves. We take each charity's free reserves from its most recent annual return (part B) and divide by its latest annual expenditure, then convert to months. A charity with free reserves equal to three months of expenditure could keep operating for roughly three months if all income stopped. We report the median months of reserves for each cause, plus the share of charities in that cause with under three months of reserves, which is a common informal marker for a thin reserves position.
Which causes are most under-reserved?
Recreation charities are the most stretched: 47.1% hold under three months of free reserves. That does not automatically mean those charities are in difficulty. Some organisations, particularly grant-funded and community-facing bodies, deliberately run low reserves because holding large unrestricted balances would be inconsistent with their funding model or their charitable purpose. What matters is that trustees have set a written reserves policy and can justify the level they hold. A low figure without a policy is the real warning sign.
Why can one charity appear under several causes?
The Charity Commission classifies charities by what they do (their activities), who they help (their beneficiaries), and how they operate. A single charity can legitimately carry several classification codes: for example, a charity supporting disabled children could appear under disability, children and young people, and general public. Because of this, the charity counts in this dataset add up to more than the total number of registered charities. Each row counts charities carrying that classification code, not unique organisations, so the medians describe the typical charity working in that cause area.
Methodology and sources
Median income is each registered charity's latest reported gross income (latest_income). Reserves health uses the reserves field from charity_annual_return_partb (most recent return), the trustees' own declared free reserves figure under the CC19 definition: unrestricted funds excluding fixed assets held for charity use and designated funds. This is divided by latest_expenditure to produce months of reserves. A charity can appear under multiple cause classifications; the charity count per cause reflects charities with that classification code, not unique charities. Only registered, main charities included. 'Under 3 months reserves' is the share of charities in that cause group with fewer than 3 months of free reserves relative to annual expenditure.
- Charity Commission full register extract (OGL v3.0) (Charity Commission for England and Wales, Open Government Licence v3.0)
Download the cause income and reserves data as CSV (free to reuse with attribution to Trustee Tax).
Related: UK Small Charity Finance Index | UK Charity Survival and Longevity Index | Scrutiny Cliff-Edge Monitor
Setting your charity's reserves policy?
Whether you are benchmarking your income against your cause area or building a reserves policy the Charity Commission will accept, we can help you set a level you can justify and report it properly in your accounts.