The State of UK Charity Grant Funding, 2026

Key findings at a glance

• Total UK grantmaking reached over £24 billion in 2024-25, a 4% increase on the previous year.

  Source: UKGrantmaking, 2026 edition (data for 2024-25)

• Trusts and Foundations (excluding Wellcome Trust) gave £7.4bn, up 5%, now the largest single category of UK grant funding.

  Source: UKGrantmaking, 2026 edition (data for 2024-25)

• Combined Trusts, Foundations and Donor-Advised Funds gave over £10bn, compared with £9.5bn from Government and National Lottery distributors combined.

  Source: UKGrantmaking, 2026 edition (data for 2024-25)

• The proportion of UK adults giving to charity in the past year has fallen to 50%, down from 58% in 2019. Over the last decade the sector has lost around 600,000 individual donors a year.

  Source: Charities Aid Foundation, UK Giving Report 2026

• The number of active UK trusts and foundations is shrinking even as the total pool of money grows, summarised as "fewer funders, but more money", with micro-funders giving under £10,000 a year disappearing fastest.

  Source: Granted Giving, New vs Closed Funders Report 2020-2026, as summarised by 3rd Sector Mission Control

• The Directory of Grant Making Trusts 2026/27 tracks over 2,000 funders awarding a combined £8.5bn annually, up £1.6bn on the previous edition.

  Source: Directory of Social Change, The Directory of Grant Making Trusts 2026/27

• Trusts and Foundations represent roughly 91% of known organisations in UK grantmaking but just over a third of total grant value.

  Source: UKGrantmaking, 2026 edition (data for 2024-25)

Methodology in brief

This report brings together the most recent published figures from established UK sector research: UKGrantmaking's annual analysis (data for 2024-25), the Charities Aid Foundation's UK Giving Report 2026, the Directory of Social Change's Directory of Grant Making Trusts 2026/27 and Funds Online, and Granted Giving's New vs Closed Funders Report 2020-2026. Figures are quoted as each source publishes them and are not adjusted or combined.

Limitations: sources use different definitions of "funder" and different reporting years, so their totals are not directly comparable. The NCVO UK Civil Society Almanac 2026 edition was delayed at the time of writing, so older NCVO figures are not presented as current. The full report lists every source with a link.

How to cite this report

Journalists and researchers are welcome to quote these findings with a link to this page. Please cite the original source named for each figure alongside the report.

GrantBridge (2026). The State of UK Charity Grant Funding, 2026. https://grantbridge.uk/resources/state-of-uk-grant-funding-2026

The full report adds funder concentration, application volumes, sector practice and what it means for your funding strategy. Unlock the full report below.