Our total income last year (2018-19) was £55.6 million, which was an increase on the previous financial year. This increase was mainly due to the timing of receipt of grant funding, with programme activities remaining at a similar level to the previous financial year.
During the year we continued to face the challenges of securing new programme funding, in particular from our largest institutional donors: the European Union (due to the EU excluding UK NGOs even before Brexit) and the UK government Department for International Development (as a result of delays or cancellations in several procurement decisions). We have made good progress on diversifying funding sources but recognise that this will not be at a scale to replace programme funding from our largest donors.
Despite a challenging fundraising environment for humanitarian aid organisations, we continued to receive generous support from the UK public, both directly and from donations to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), and from corporate partners. In 2018-19, we received £11.4m in donations and legacies from individuals and from corporate donors.
You can find more detailed information on our income in Note 2 of our Financial Statements 2018-19 and a more detailed financial review in our Annual Report and Accounts 2018-19.
None of our work would be possible without the support of individuals who donate directly to us or take part in fundraising events or campaigns. Individual supporters are our main source of ‘unrestricted’ funds, which means we can spend this money where the need is greatest. These ‘unrestricted’ funds also underpin all our work by filling gaps in ‘restricted’ funding (see under ‘Institutional donors’ below) and enabling us to deliver programmes and projects that meet the needs of vulnerable people and communities.
Thank you for your support – we are extremely grateful to the many individuals, agencies, trusts and other organisations whose donations make our work possible.
We aim to fundraise responsibly and we make this pledge to our supporters:
Most of our income comes from institutional donors and funders, to whom we submit bids for funding for specific programmes and projects. The majority of this income is ‘restricted’ funds, which means the money must be spent on the specific programme or project for which it has been provided. Restricted programme funding often does not cover all of the costs of delivering the programme, so ‘unrestricted’ funds provided by individual supporters and donors play a crucial role in filling the gap and enabling us to deliver life-saving and poverty-fighting programmes around the world.
Our largest funder is the UK government through the Department for International Development (DFID). In 2018-19, the UK government provided £43.2 million in funding. Details of our income in 2018-19 and of projects funded by DFID and other institutional donors can be seen in Note 2 to our 2018-19 financial statements.
Other major institutional funders include the European Union, which provided £4 million in 2018-19, and the European Commission’s emergency response fund ECHO, which provided £1.1 million.
Our partnerships with private sector companies provided £5.7 million in funding for a variety of projects in 2018-19. You can download a list of major donors including trusts, foundations and companies (taken from our Annual Report and Accounts 2018-19) below:
Annual Report and Accounts 2019: Thanks to our supporters
Our full financial statements are included in our Annual Report and Accounts 2018-19.
