After doubling its statutory funding from the Department for International Development, Unicef UK raised £95m in 2011, but fell short of its targeted voluntary income by £2.3m, which dropped £7m from 2010 levels.

Unicef UK had forecast making at least £37.5m available for work with children in 2011, with around 76p in every pound raised going directly to its work. But the charity achieved double that, generating £75m available for children after costs. This was an increase of £10.2m on 2010.

The most significant funding boon came from DFID doubling its grant to Unicef UK to boost health and education for the world's poorest. The charity was granted £41.4m from the government department in 2011/12, all of which appeared in the 2011 accounts, and has been allocated a similar amount in 2012/13.

In addition it received a further £2.4m for work on the International Inspiration programme, the international social legacy of the London 2012 Olympic Games. "Significant funds" for this were sourced from DFID, although this was included within the charity's voluntary income statistics. 

Voluntary income drop

While statutory income increased substantially, the charity's voluntary income dropped by just over £7m and fell short of its £52.5m target for the year, raising £50.2m. This was despite generating 50,000 new pledge donors throughout the year. 

The most significant drop in voluntary income came from 'fundraising initiatives and regional fundraising' which dropped from £4.6m to £2.4m. Corporate partnerships too fell from £8.3m to just short of £7m. There was also a drop of £2.5m from special events; however this can be accounted for as the biannual Soccer Aid event, which provides significant funds for the charity, was not held in 2011. 

The charity is in the second year of both its five-year strategic plan and its two-year operational plan which aim to maximise the amount available to spend on children, setting a target of at least £52.8m available per year by 2015. 

Despite the dip in fundraising totals in 2011, Unicef UK hopes to raise £59.7m in 2012 (an £8.5m increase), excluding DFID funding.

The charity hopes to generate 65,000 more pledge donors, which could boost income by £1.5m. And despite the dip in funding from corporate partners in 2011, it hopes to raise £10.7m (an increase of £3.8m) from corporate partnerships as well. A further £5.7m is projected to be made from major donors, trusts and foundations.

With Soccer Aid taking place this year the likelihood of reaching the voluntary income target is somewhat boosted. In 2010 the event raised £2.5m for the charity and it had forecast to raise the same amount in 2012. However having held the event in May this year the actual sum raised was revealed earlier this month to be £4.9m. This was after securing match-funding through DFID.