Third sector staff are overwhelmingly negative about the prospects for the third sector outside of the EU, according to new research
Nine out of 10 third sector employees are concerned about the impact Brexit will have on their charities.
Nearly as many, 85%, believe it will have a negative impact on their organisations according to a surveycarried out by third-sector recruitment firm the Right Ethos.
The survey found that around 90% of people in the third sector voted to remain in the EU, with only 6% saying they had voted to leave.
The sector has views that differ substantially from the wider public, who of course pushed towards leaving - Jonathan Dearth
Four in five respondents believe that charities will find it harder to achieve their goals outside of the EU and many are worried in particular about funding, with 79% believing funding will be limited.
Jonathan Dearth, founder and director of the Right Ethos, said: “Immediately it’s observable that the sector has views that differ substantially from the wider public, who of course pushed towards leaving. This difference widens when we look at those at a level of head of and above where less than 1% voted to leave.
“Looking at the rest of the data we can see the overwhelming opinion is that Brexit will have harmful implications for the sector. 88% of those in head of and above roles were to some degree concerned by the result of the referendum and 95% felt that Brexit would ultimately have some level of negative impact on their organisation.
“These results are unsurprising given the number of people who supported the remain campaign. It is worth noting that there was no real strong consensus over how negative Brexit would be. This potentially reflects the level of uncertainty in regards to the consequences of Britain leaving the EU and the fact that Brexit is likely to affect each individual organisation differently.”
The survey results appear to suggest that the immediate economic impact of the vote to leave the EU is already beginning to worry senior staff in UK charities.
One respondent said: “Funding is the key issue for our organisation. We are heavily dependent upon government funding, and given Brexit, it is likely that money available will reduce.”
Another said: “Economic uncertainty always has a negative impact on donations and grants. Brexit has created huge economic uncertainty and I think we are going to see the impact of that”
Policy gridlock was also a key concern for organisations worried that government would too distracted by the fallout of Brexit to give attention to their causes.
One respondent said: “It will be much more difficult to get through to government over the next few months, while they sort themselves out. The same goes for media coverage.”
Charities are also fearful that they may lose valuable European staff following the decision to leave the EU.
