A study has found the charity sector is facing a “substantive overall decline” in trustee numbers, which is being driven by challenges in recruitment facing small charities.

The Third Sector Trends in England and Wales study, which includes the views of more than 8,600 sector representatives, found that more small charities with an annual income up to £50,000 have been losing trustees, compared to those who have gained board members in 2025.

It found that among larger charities the reverse is the case. Among those with an income between £1m and £5m, 19% more organisations are reporting a rise in trustee numbers than reporting a fall.

But given almost two in three charities are small organisations “this strongly suggests a substantive overall decline in trustee numbers”, found the study.

Diversity issues

The study also found continuing challenges in improving diversity among charity leaders.
Around one in seven charities are led by graduate chairs and chief executives, a proportion that has changed little over the last six years, found researchers.

Less than half of chairs are women, also similar to previous years, however the proportion of female CEOs has increased over the last six years from just over half to more than two thirds.

There are far fewer chairs with disabilities, with their numbers reducing from just under one in five to one in 14 since 2019.

Similarly while one in ten chairs were from global majority backgrounds in 2019, the proportion this year is now one in 14.

Retired people continue to dominant chair roles, however their proportion has dipped from just under two thirds in 2019 to over half this year.

Decline in volunteering

The study also found that while volunteer numbers have increased over the last two years for many charities, more than a third are reporting they have failed to recover their numbers to pre-pandemic levels.

Overall researchers believe there has been a substantive decline in the number of regular volunteers from 4.7m to 4.3m over the last three years.

While middle sized charities, new organisations and those in more affluent areas have “been the most successful at recovering numbers of regulator volunteers”, those in the poorest areas have struggled in comparison, researchers found.

“Volunteers and trustees are the heart and soul of the third sector, especially for smaller organisations,” said Rob Williamson, chief executive of Community Foundation North East, which is among organisations to fund this year’s study.

“Whilst post-pandemic we have seen some recovery in the number of people coming forward to be volunteers and trustees, we know recruitment is still a real challenge for many of the charities we support, and there is clearly still some way to go."

Crisis in trusteeship

During her pre-appointment hearing, the next chair of the Charity Commission, Dame Julia Unwin, warned MPs that charities "face a crisis in trusteeship" as the burden of the role "has got greater and the extent to which they are held accountable are making it much less attractive and more problematic for people in other roles to do it".

Unwin, who takes up the role in January 2026, added that an erosion in "the ready supply of the early retired" to take on trustee roles "is an issue" facing charities and that the sector "may need to go further to show the advantages of being a trustee".

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