Income at the Epilepsy Society dropped slightly last year, but the return on investment in fundraising has increased.

Accounts for 2012/13 at the charity show total income was slightly down, from £17.1m to £16.8m. The charity’s unrestricted reserves rose by £1.7m to just above £17m, which the charity attributed to the transfer of restricted funds to its Epilepsy Society Research Centre and to its pension deficit.

A fall in grants for research meant that voluntary income fell slightly from £2.78m to £2.54m, although income from legacies and donations rose a little. The cost of fundraising, however, fell to 26p for each pound raised.

Fundraising strategy and structure at the charity was changed, resulting in the improved RoI of the department.

Director of fundraising Bridget Gardiner said:  "In the last year we've seen a decline in corporate, trust and legacy income of £138,000. About a year ago, to pre-empt the shortfall, we took a strategic decision to look at new ways of generating income. This opened up exciting new avenues, including a student adventure partnership and a three-year investment in RideLondon100.

"We had a couple of vacant posts and took the opportunity to look at what was needed to support the new initiatives. The student partnership in particular lent itself to graduate and paid intern recruitment.  I'm also a great believer in 'homegrown' talent, and two new posts were filled by existing staff."

The previous year saw the end of a £3.5m capital appeal for the Epilepsy Society Research Centre. The centre opened in November.

Recruiting new chair and chief executive

Both the chair of Epilepsy Society and chief executive announced in May that they are retiring this year, leaving the charity to recruit two new leaders.

Chair Eileen Springford will retire later this month after ten years as a trustee at the charity, while Graham Faulkner will also retire following 13 years at the executive helm.

Four other members of the charity’s board stood down over 2012/13, the same year the charity also underwent a governance review. The recommendations within that review will be implemented in the current financial year.