Unicef’s income has risen to its highest ever level of £102.8m, according to recently filed documents.
According to Unicef’s latest annual report and accounts, running to December 2016, the charity’s income increased by £2.1m year-on-year.
The rise appears to be driven by a 4 per cent increase in voluntary income to £98.0m, up for £94.1m in 2015.
However, the charity’s expenditure also increased to its highest ever level of £103.4m, so it made a deficit of £559,000.
This increase in expenditure is partly due to Unicef increasing the amount it spent on raising funds by 15 per cent to £30.5m, up from £26.4m the previous year.
On average, over the last five years, 70 per cent of Unicef’s income was made available for programmes, after fundraising, sales and administration costs.
Risks
Unicef says in its accounts that the greatest risks to the sustainability of its income are external political factors.
It says: “The evolving domestic and global environment in which Unicef UK operates presents risks to income generation and could make it more difficult to achieve the changes necessary to ensure that all children in the UK and overseas are realising their rights as set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
“Unicef UK has implemented a number of measures to mitigate the impact of these risks, but the actions of others in the wider environment are largely beyond our control.”
Other risks it lists are a potential drop of public trust in charities, Unicef’s technology infrastructure, its susceptibility to potential hacking and potential breaches of laws in conflict zones.
However, the charity says: “The risks affecting Unicef UK were satisfactorily managed and there were no significant operational problems affecting the charity during the year.”
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