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Scotland's largest charities named

25 February 2008

Scotland’s charity regulator has published a list ranking the 300 charities with the greatest annual incomes. The list, using information drawn from the Scottish Charity Register, will be updated on a quarterly basis.

Read the full list here.

The first 20 charities on the list have a combined income in excess of £4billion, accounting for 38 per cent of the sector’s total income of £10.9billion.

The 300 charities on the list together have an annual income over £9.5billion, or 87 per cent of the sector’s total income.

A number of universities appear in the list. The list also includes charities that are bodies registered as charities in England and Wales; these ‘cross-border’ charities report their total (UK) income, rather than figures for their operations in Scotland. Of the sector's £10,932,783,575 gross annual income, £4,010,064,874 or 37 per cent, is accounted for by such cross-border charities, with the remainder accounting for £5,507,599,831.

The information is taken from the Scottish Charity Register at 31st December, with an update scheduled for 4th April. The information published today adds to the profile of the Scottish charity sector published at the end of 2007.

In Spring 2008 OSCR will publish Scottish Charities 2008, which will provide further data on the Scottish charity sector, drawn from the information submitted to OSCR in charities’ Annual Return forms and supplementary Monitoring Return forms.

Key points are as follows:

- of the 20 charities with the greatest incomes, over half are also bodies registered as charities in England and Wales; and 7 are universities

- The charity with the largest income that is not also registered as a charity in England and Wales, is the University of Edinburgh, with an annual income of £438,852,000, followed by the University of Glasgow Court with £312,372,000

- the Church of Scotland is 20th on the list, with a gross annual income of £108,342,000

- Marie Curie Cancer Care, RSPB and Quarriers are 28th, 33rd and 48th respectively.

OSCR’s Chief Executive Jane Ryder said that the list provided a useful snapshot of the sector’s major charities by income.

‘We are increasingly publishing data gathered from charities’ Annual and Monitoring Returns and adding to public awareness of charity activity and reporting in Scotland,’ she said.

‘We do not anticipate the list to change markedly over time, but it should prove to be a useful reference point as we move forward. It is worth reflecting on the fact that prior to the new legislation and the establishment of OSCR, it was difficult to gauge the scale and even the total number of active charities in Scotland,’ she added.

The first 20 charities listed are as follows:

	Charity Number	Charity Name	Gross Annual Income
1.	SC037733	British Council*	£517,493,411
2.	SC005336	University of Edinburgh	£438,852,000
3.	SC038302	The Open University*	£352,700,000
4.	SC004401	University of Glasgow Court	£312,372,000
5.	SC034054	Glasgow Housing Association**	£296,701,000
6.	SC039042	Oxfam*	£293,100,000
7.	SC037738	The British Red Cross Society*	£233,100,000
8.	SC038092	NCH*	£219,456,000
9.	SC015263	University of Strathclyde	£193,374,000
10.	SC015096	University of Dundee	£165,039,000
11.	SC013683	University of Aberdeen	£156,983,000
12.	SC037605	Barnardo’s*	£150,087,000
13.	SC009359	Salvation Army*	£143,629,000
14.	SC005117	Leonard Cheshire Disability*	£141,752,000
15.	SC038989	Immigration Advisory Service*	£141,752,000
16.	SC013532	University of St Andrews Court	£127,353,000
17.	SC037736	Royal National Lifeboat Institution*	£117,600,000
18.	SC036215	Institute of Evolutionary Studies	£113,797,476
19.	SC037717	National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children*	£110,382,604
20.	SC011353	The Church of Scotland	£108,342,000
	TOTAL		£4,333,154,264