STRUGGLING charities are turning to the stock market to recoup dwindling donations as they continue to fight through economic woes.
Charitable giving has been in decline since the beginning of the financial crisis.
Consequently, some are turning to financial investment companies to guide them through the complex world of stocks and shares, in the hope of raising extra money while minimising risks.
Reigate company Brewin Dolphin has a number of charities as clients and manages a portfolio of donated funds worth nearly £2 billion. Richard Arris, who works on the company's charity team said: "Charities are always subject to a number of challenges and it becomes more complex when a difficult economy and levels of public sector debt add to the list.
"Charities' work often means that the pressures on donations from the public and other sources of funding coincide with an increased demand for their services."
He added: "Donors to a charity have a right to expect that the charity's trustees will exercise a duty of care, seek professional advice and source the best possible returns on their funds."
The Charity Commission says charities never venture into the territory of high risk asset management and rely on companies like Brewin Dolphin to make the safest investment possible with companies that ideally meet their values and ideals.
A Charity Commission spokesman added: "It is open to charities to invest their funds in order to be able to fund their current work and to continue their services to beneficiaries in the future.
"As our guidance says, charities intending to invest their funds for the long or the short term have certain duties which they must comply with in relation to investment matters and these are set out in detail in our guidance."
The Mirror tried to contact a number of high-profile charities to ask if they used donated money on the stock market, including the British Red Cross, Surrey Age UK, the British Heart Foundation, Oxfam, the Salvation Army, the YMCA and Macmillan Cancer Support.
Macmillan was the only charity to respond to our enquiry. A spokesman said: "Macmillan Cancer Support does have investments and we believe that maintaining these for the long term will help us continue towards our goal of reaching and improving the lives of everyone living with cancer."
