When Collaboration Isn’t Enough: Why More Charities Should Consider Merger

Something notable is happening quietly across the UK charity sector.

Between May 2024 and April 2025, 94 charity mergers involving 183 organisations were recorded. According to the Good Merger Index produced by Eastside People, that represents a 49% increase on the previous year. Much of this activity is among smaller charities with incomes below £1 million, many of whom are choosing to combine in order to create stronger, more sustainable organisations.

The drivers are not difficult to understand. Costs have risen sharply, funding is more competitive, and demand for services continues to grow. The Index reports that more than half of the smaller charities entering mergers were already operating at a deficit. For many boards, the question is no longer whether the environment is difficult, but how best to protect the mission in the face of those pressures.

Yet mergers in the charity sector are still too often viewed as a last resort — something that happens when an organisation has somehow failed. In reality, they can be one of the most effective ways to strengthen impact. When approached strategically, merging organisations can reduce duplication, strengthen fundraising capacity, improve operational resilience and ultimately direct more resources toward beneficiaries rather than infrastructure.

Despite the recent rise in activity, mergers remain rare. With more than 171,000 registered charities in the UK, fewer than one hundred mergers in a year barely registers across the sector. This suggests that many organisations with similar missions, overlapping geography or shared beneficiaries may still be operating separately when greater impact might be achieved together.
For trustees, whose legal duty is to act in the best interests of their charity and its beneficiaries, this raises an important strategic question: are we protecting the organisation, or the cause?

These are not easy conversations. Charities are built by passionate people who care deeply about their work and identity. But leadership sometimes requires stepping back and asking whether the structure itself is helping or hindering the mission.

In a challenging financial environment, the organisations that will thrive are those willing to think boldly about how they deliver their purpose. Sometimes that will mean collaboration. And sometimes, the most responsible decision may be to combine strengths and pursue the mission together rather than apart.