The fear that charitable donations would be an early victim of a collective tightening of belts in homes and boardrooms across the country was seemingly endorsed last month in a report by market research company NEMS.
It found that 41% of the 500 households surveyed were already having problems balancing their expenses and 28% of those facing financial woes expected to donate less money to charity in the months to come.
These are, admits Stephen Bubb, the chief executive of the Association of Charity Chief Executives, "deeply worrying times" for many voluntary sector leaders.
Charities working with the millions of people in developing countries who are most vulnerable to rising global food and fuel prices, and domestic charities dealing with issues such as homelessness and debt relief are likely to see the demand for their services increase as their income stalls.
Oxfam, one of the UK's largest fundraising charities, said this week it aimed to slash 10-15% off its costs in the next financial year. It insisted this move would occur as part of "our normal business cycle", but the charity acknowledged "the new economic reality will also have implications for Oxfam's work and resources".
But just how worried should charities be? Despite the portents of doom, many charities haven't been hit where it hurts just yet. Recent research by voluntary sector thinktank Nfpsynergy claimed there was an average 17-month delay before a drop in GDP affected charities' total income, including government grants and direct debits.
That is more than enough time, the thinktank's director Joe Saxton concludes, for charities to "tighten their ship" before the predicted recession really hits.
Saxton believes the credit crunch could all too easily become a convenient excuse for those charities wanting to pin the blame for weak and faltering fundraising strategies on larger external forces.
"Just watch how many charities start writing phrases like "we are facing difficult and unpredictable times" into their fundraising reviews," he says. "To me that is just another way of saying we're not responsible for any of the financial problems we're facing, when the truth is that those charities who have built strong predictable income streams and robust financial planning mechanisms in place will be able to weather the storm."
One thing is for sure. If the economic downturn is really going to be as bad as everyone thinks it will be, then charities must ensure they are ready to deal with what is ahead.
