Charities Strategy and Impact Report 2021
7. Benchmarking: at a glance
7.1 By income
Annual income below £5m
Charities with an annual income of £5m or less
are setting approximately five strategic aims
per year.
These are largely consistent each year, with
broader strategic plans being outlined on a
short-term (mostly annual) basis.
These aims are mostly measurable and
balanced between external and internal focus.
The number of high-level aims set by these
charities are very low comparatively to their
larger peers, which suggests a targeted and
narrowed focus to strategic planning, in line
with their operational size.
Despite a manageable number of
demonstratable aims set per year, this
income segment has a high rate of omissions
in their reporting of achievements.
As a result, the percentage of aims set that
have been reported as achieved over the
period is below 50 per cent.
Annual income £5m - £25m
Charities in the mid-income tier established
medium term strategies at some point in the
last five years, with about six to seven individual
aims per year.
Most charities in this segment regularly
balanced internal and external objectives within
their strategies.
Roughly one in ten aims set over the period
were considered high-level, or broader-scoped
initiatives, which may be harder to achieve.
A quarter of all aim's progress was unreported,
perhaps in alignment with the trend of omitting
demonstratable results for many internally
focused goals.
Annual income over £25m
The largest charities in the assessment by income
were more likely to set long-term strategies.
These strategies also included more aims on
average per year than their smaller counterparts,
averaging approximately seven per year.
High-level aims account for approximately one
in five set within the segment, which indicates
the scope of these plans are in alignment with
the size of the organisations.
Comprehensive reporting on achievements
was still weak, with roughly a quarter of all
aims omitted and just over 50 per cent clearly
reported as achieved.