Who Cares?
How State Funding and Political Activism Change Charity (PDF)
This very readable 200-page book explains the many problems with charity funding, delving into the history, and providing detailed examples. It was commissioned and published by Civitas, the Institue for the Study of Civil Society, itself a charity, and funded by the Nigel Vinson Charitable Trust, another charity.

Stand and Deliver
The future for charities providing public services (PDF)
Charity Commission report based on a survey carried out in 2006:

One third of charities that deliver public services obtain 80% or more of their income from this source. This figure rises to almost 67% for charities with an income above £10 million…

The most common funding arrangement is a combination of grants, contracts and service level agreements. 37% of charities delivering public services are funded in this way.

How dependent is the third sector on public funding?
Evidence from the National Survey of Third Sector Organisations (PDF)
Report based on a 2010 survey:

We estimate that around 36% of organisations in the third sector received of some public money, and that 14% (23,000 organisations) regarded statutory funding as their most important source of income.

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The following public bodies register and regulate charities:

• The Charity Commission in England and Wales
• The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator
• The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland

Some other searchable databases of charities are provided by:

• CharitiesDirect
• Guidestar