Financial Sustainability Within UK Charities: Community Sport Trusts and Corporate Social Responsibility Partnerships

Bingham, Timothy and Walters, Geoff ORCID: 0000-0003-1658-7128 (2013) Financial Sustainability Within UK Charities: Community Sport Trusts and Corporate Social Responsibility Partnerships. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 24 (3). pp. 606-629. ISSN 0957-8765, 1573-7888

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Abstract

The change in political leadership in the UK in 2010 has created financial uncertainty and instability for many third sector organisations. In a shifting funding landscape, it is clear that an over-reliance on Government funding is a risky strategy and that there is a need to diversify and seek out alternative sources of revenue. This article considers the impact of political change on the financial sustainability of community sports trusts associated with Premier League and Football League clubs in England. It explores sources of revenue through the analysis of financial statements, revealing that on average community sports trusts receive a significant proportion of income from grant funding whilst sponsorship income is relatively small. The article goes on to discuss the potential for community sports trusts to diversify revenue streams by developing social partnerships that address the corporate social responsibility (CSR) agendas of commercial organisations. It illustrates that although commercial sponsorship can provide benefits including the provision of additional funding that can enable financial stability, key issues include the balance of power, the impact on organisational flexibility, whether there is a need to restructure, and the development of long-term partnerships. Although the findings from this article are focused on a particular type of charity, given the importance of CSR partnership income for the charities sector they may also have broader implications for other charitable organisations.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	35 Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services, 3504 Commercial Services, 44 Human Society, 3507 Strategy, Management and Organisational Behaviour, 4410 Sociology, Generic health relevance, 17 Partnerships for the Goals
Divisions:	Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Management
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	13 Nov 2024 09:58
Last Modified:	13 May 2025 19:35
DOI:	10.1007/s11266-012-9275-z
Related Websites:	Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3187298