Christian Aid’s total income has increased for the first time in three years, according to newly filed accounts.
For the financial year ending March 2023, Christian Aid reported its highest income for the last three years, but failed to reach pre-pandemic levels of income.
The 16% increase in its overall income to £90.6m was largely due to an increase in donations to its emergency appeals.
It saw a 69% rise in funds from appeals from £17.5m to £29.6m.
During the year it held emergency appeals for Ukraine, Turkey-Syria, Afghanistan and aast Africa.
Humanitarian expenditure increased to £46m for the year, with a substantial increase in grants to Europe as a result of its Ukraine emergency appeal.
Supporter donations rose by a quarter
Donations from supporters increased by 25% over the financial year, largely due to a boost in appeals but the charity also saw strong performances in legacies and other donations.
Donations from individuals accounted for £65m of its overall income. Legacies brought in £14.7m, a 7% increase on the previous year, which was boosted by a “generous legacy” recorded in the year prior.
Other donations rose by 45% to £3.2m in a year, whereas regular gifts declined by 2% to £12.5m.
The charity’s annual fundraising event, Christian Aid Week, saw a 14% decrease on the previous year’s total to £5m.
“Christian Aid Week did not achieve the previous year level partly due to the strong public response to the war in Ukraine and the cost-of-living crisis”, the accounts read.
The charity received 110 complaints during the financial year, up from 109 the previous year but below the 148 complaints it received in 2020-21.
Unrestricted reserves for the charity fell from £27.4m to £23.9m during the year.
Expenditure and staff costs
Overall expenditure increased by 23% on the previous year to £93.4m, meaning the charity ended the year with a deficit of £2.8m.
Some 48% of its expenditure went on humanitarian aid, the biggest portion of its costs.
The second largest amount of expenditure was on development at £28.2m, £12.5m was spent on raising funds and £7m was spent on campaigning, advocacy and education.
Total staff costs for the charity were £26.9m in 2022-23, a marginal rise from £26.5m the previous year.
Overall headcount of Christian Aid staff both in the UK and Ireland and overseas was at 762 at the year end.
No staff cuts were made during the year, according to a spokesperson from the charity.
The highest earning member of staff made between £140,000 and £150,000 during the year, while 32 members of staff made more than £60,000.
Formal investigation into staff member
During the financial year, Christian Aid recorded 15 safeguarding concerns, 13 related to overseas operations and two related to its UK and Ireland operations.
Three of the concerns related to Christian Aid staff, eight to partner organisations and four did not concern either.
One of the complaints related to a Christian Aid staff member led to a formal investigation which led to a dismissal, while two “did not meet the threshold for an investigation”.
In 2021-22, the charity reported another formal investigation into a complaint about a staff member that ultimately led to a dismissal.
However, it received 17 safeguarding complaints overall in 2021-22.
