The past few years since the global financial crash have been a challenging time for any organisation, but for charities which rely on donations and goodwill the recession has been particularly difficult. The problem is that most people running charities don't want to be ruthless when it comes to cutting costs, but a certain amount of this may be necessary if they are going to survive. They also need to ensure tax incentives, such as Gift Aid, are collected efficiently. Here we look at some points to bear in mind when managing a charitable organisation during an economic downturn.

Cut costs: Sometimes you have to ruthless about costs. Look carefully at all your expenses and think about where savings could be made. For example, do you print a large amount of leaflets or other publicity material each year? If so, hunt around for the most low-cost suppliers, try to get discounts by virtue of your charitable status or even offer free advertising in return for products or services.

Make the most of Gift Aid: Never has Gift Aid, which can add up to 25 per cent of the value of any donation, been so vital to the bottom line of charities. It is essential that this is collected efficiently so that every donation is accounted for, and for this it may be wise to invest in Gift Aid EPOS software (or ‘electronic point-of-sale' software). This collects and automatically processes the necessary information on each donor to prove they are a UK tax-paying citizen, allowing the charity to claim back the basic rate income tax at the end of the financial year. With Gift Aid EPOS software you can be sure that you are getting all the money to which your cause is entitled.

Find more volunteers: How many people do you have on paid salaries within your organisation? Obviously with any charity it is necessary to have some paid positions to ensure it is run consistently, but you may find, if you advertise online and in printed media, that there are plenty of skilled people willing to volunteer for positions in which you currently have a paid employee. It may seem harsh, but the job of a charity is after all to raise as much money possible for its cause, not make unnecessary outlays.

Up your fundraising activities: You may think that organising more fundraising activities during a recession is somewhat pointless because people have less money to give. Logically, though, whilst you may indeed not get as much money as you would have done pre-recession for each fundraising event or activity organised, if there are more of them you can at least hope to balance things out a little. Start planning now, investigate every possible fundraising angle and above all make sure that whatever you have decided upon is expertly marketed to get the most support possible.