Finances
World Horse Welfare's total income during 2010 was £7.1m (2009: £7.3m), which is a fall of 2% on 2009.
Voluntary income accounted for £6.4m (2009: £6.5m), 90% of the total (2009: 90%). The main source of funding remains legacy income, which fell to £3.9m (2009: £4.5m) but 2009 was a very strong year.
Income from donations and grants showed an increase of 25% to £2.5m (2009: £2.0m). This was due to a strong performance for grants, which included a £0.25m award for an Isolation Unit at our Glenda Spooner Farm Rescue & Rehoming Centre in Somerset. Other activities for generating funds, such as lotteries and fundraising events, fell by 17% to £0.3m. During the year Gift Aid tax claims from individual supporter donations totalled £245k (2009: £287k) and £128k of VAT (2009 £98k) was reclaimed.
The charity undertook a major investment in profile raising and attracting new donors in 2010. This started at Badminton Horse Trials where World Horse Welfare was Charity of the Year and continued by means of direct mail and press advertising to conclude with the Great British Horse Survey. The focus on growing the supporter base lead to an increase in the cost of generating voluntary income of 13% to £1.7m (2009: £1.5m) and resulted in over 5,000 new donors. The Trustees plan to continue to invest in increasing donor numbers but with caution in the current economic environment.
Total expenditure for the year was £7.2m (2009: £6.7m). Overall direct charitable expenditure rose by 6% to £5.2m (2009: £4.9m). The main increase was in International Training with the resumption of a full training programme following on from the unforeseen cancellation of a course in 2009 due to civil unrest in the country.
Overall, the return on investment (ROI) for voluntary income was just below 4.1 (2009: just over 4.1), thanks to the strong legacy income profile and performance of grant income, partly offset by the increased investment in fundraising. The long-term aim of the Charity is to maintain an ROI in the region of 4.0.
After taking into account gains on investments, the Charity achieved a surplus of £0.4m (2009: £1.5m). Investment gains accounted for the entire surplus in 2010, reversing a small operating deficit, compared to 61% in 2009.
If you would like more in depth information about our finances, please download a copy of the 2010 Annual Review or Annual Report by clicking the links below.
