Finances
World Horse Welfare's total income during 2009 was £7.3m (2008: £6.4m), which is an increase of 14% on 2008.
Voluntary income accounted for £6.5m (2008: £5.1m), 90% of the total (2008: 80%). This was because 2009 was a very strong year for legacy income, which showed an increase of 46% to £4.5m (2008: £3.1m). World Horse Welfare has seen a general upward trend from this income stream over recent years. This is particularly encouraging in light of the present economic climate.
World Horse Welfare's income from donations and grants remained at £2.0m. Other activities for generating funds, such as lotteries and fundraising events, showed an increase of 22% to £0.4m. The major capital campaigns planned in support of developments at our centres in Aberdeenshire and Somerset have been delayed. These will offer a valuable fundraising opportunity during 2010 and beyond.
Investment in attracting new donors to the Charity was relatively cautious because of difficult economic circumstances. As such, our overall number of donors remained broadly unchanged. The number of donors who had given to World Horse Welfare within the past six months increased throughout the year, as did the proportion of supporters for whom the Charity has a Gift Aid declaration. During the year Gift Aid tax claims from individual supporter donations totalled £287k and £98k of VAT was reclaimed.
Total expenditure for the year was £6.7m (2008: £7.6m). Overall direct charitable expenditure fell by 10% to £4.9m (2008: £5.5m), in line with the Charity’s cost saving agenda and because of the unforeseen cancellation of an international training course together with the completion of a transportation research project in 2008.
The cost of generating voluntary income decreased by 11% to £1.5m (2008: £1.7m) as the Charity sought cost savings without jeopardising crucial ongoing investment in fundraising. One such investment was World Horse Welfare’s new membership scheme, launched in May 2009, which had almost 1,000 members by the yearend.
Overall, the return on investment (ROI) for voluntary income was 4.1 (2008: 3.0), principally thanks to the strong legacy income profile. 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 £1.5m (2008: £3.1m deficit). Investment gains accounted for 61% of the surplus in 2009 compared to 62% of the deficit in 2008.
If you would like more in depth information about our finances, please download a copy of the 2009 Annual Review or Annual Report by clicking the links below.
