Gross income for general charities is £20.8 billion.

Income is concentrated in larger organisations - £9 out of every £10 is accounted for by those with annual incomes over £100,000

The GDP contribution amounts to £7.2 billion per year.

Volunteers contribute £25.3 billion to the sector.

85,000 jobs were created in the voluntary sector in the 5 years between 1997 and 2002.

Estimated number of trustees is between 650,000 and 1 million.

More than one third of UK charities’ annual £20 billion income comes from the government, which is the sector’s biggest single source of income.

Source: Prospects website 2004, NCVO 2004 and VSNTO 2003b