Meet the charity that thinks it is a business.

Portsmouth charity Southern Focus Trust has scored £1.3m of deals since the new year and has its sights set on more contracts as part of a major expansion.

Since January it has secured deals to manage the advice and legal counselling service at Portsmouth's new Community Legal Advice Centre, provide a support service to people in danger of being moved from their homes, run a housing support scheme in Havant targeting ex-prisoners, and provide accommodation for people in Havant with mental health problems.

But it is just one of many which is increasingly relying on a deal-driven, business-style model to achieve its goals, applying traditional private-sector principles of efficiency and delivery when working with drug addicts, young offenders, and the mentally ill.

The pot of grant money for charities has been shrinking since April 1, 2003, when the Supporting People Programme, administered by the Department of Communities and Local Government, was introduced.

The programme took control of all charitable grants, and set tight criteria for charities which received money, requiring them to produce progress reports and audits, in exchange for three-year contracts.

It changed the face of many charities in the UK, with organisations now vying with one another – and sometimes with the private sector – for out-to-tender contracts.

Job titles, too, are changing: where once there would have been simple volunteers or helpers, now charities employ strategic directors and development co-ordinators in parallel with their private sector cousins.