The British Heart Foundation has enjoyed a revenue increase of 5.5 per cent, taking its total income up from £249.8m to £263.6m.

The charity’s accounts for the year ending 31 March 2013 also reveal that expenditure was down, from £124.2m to £120.2m, a drop of 3.2 per cent.

A total of 41 per cent of revenue came from legacies, 31 per cent from fundraising, 23 per cent from retail and 5 per cent from investments.

Almost £91m (around 75 per cent) of charitable expenditure was on research, compared with £88.4m in 2011/12. Total investment in prevention and care activities was £29.1m, down from £35.5m the year before.

Legacy fundraising increased by 2 per cent to £54m, and retail profit was up by 8 per cent to £31.1m. For more details on BHF’s retail division, you can pre-order Charity Finance's 2013 Charity Shops Survey, released in October but available now at a discounted rate via the link below.

The charity funded 82 project grants of up to £300,000 during 2012/13, each of which lasted up to three years. It also awarded 87 fellowships to individuals.

BHF’s Mending Broken Hearts Appeal passed the £10m mark, helping to fund the creation of three new BHF Centres of Regenerative Medicine, with £2.5m awarded to each centre over a four-year period.

Income from volunteer fundraising, meanwhile, increased from £39.6m to £41.4m. Investment income remained flat at £67m.

Last October, BHF topped a poll of favourite charity sector brands, with 41 per cent of charity communications professionals and supporters giving it the vote.

Equity investment strategy

BHF’s finance director Simon Hopkins recently told Charity Finance that the charity was embarking on a new investment strategy, integrating its investment and treasury policies into one, so that its decisions about the nature of investments could take into account the value of cash and deposits in reducing volatility.

Hopkins said that this typically means equities, and the BHF’s investment portfolio now consists almost entirely of equities. Excluding programme-related investment, it is valued at £169.5m, as opposed to £207.5m in 2012.

BHF’s reported a total reserves deficit of £74m, with £16.4m of this unrestricted (compared to a deficit of £27.7m last year). The trustees have set reserve policies relating to liquidity based on the relationship between readily realisable assets and future liabilities of grants and the cash requirements for BHF’s sustainability.

The charity’s pension fund deficit at 31 March 2013 was £70m, down slightly from £73m at the same time last year. BHF’s board of trustees has assured members of its continued support for and desire to retain its pension scheme, while not giving any absolute guarantees.

Plans to launch new website

In 2013/14, BHF plans to continue to fund its research through project and programme grants and personal research fellowships.

The organisation will also focus on making the transition from its current to new Research Excellence awards, and intends to facilitate a close collaboration between the three BHF Centres of Regenerative Medicine and their associated MRC Regenerative Medicine Platform awards.

It will also be launching a new website and digital platform to “improve access to information about heart health”.

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