The British Heart Foundation has grown its total income to more than £310m, and its income net of retail costs slightly to £158.9m.
The charity has published the figures for the financial year ending March 2017, with growith in legacy income helping to offset falls elsewhere.
For the year ending March 2016 its total income net of retail costs was £156.6m. It recently published its annual report and accounts for the year ending 31 March 2017 on its website.
In terms of income streams the BHF received £73.3m from legacies, a 9 per cent growth from the previous year. The BHF raised a further £53.6m from fundraising, down by around 1 per cent from the previous year. It also made £25m through retail from its network of charity shops, down 14 per cent from the previous year. The remaining £6.9m was made through investments and other income.
In terms of its total expenditure, the BHF spent £127.1m in the last financial year, down from £133.5m in 2015-16. The charity spent £95m medical research, also down from the previous year. In terms of prevention, survival and support services, the BHF spent £31.2m, up around 1 per cent on the previous year.
The report said the reduced research investment reflected “the inclusion in the prior year of a £10m award towards the development of the new Heart and Lung Research Institute by the University of Cambridge and Papworth Hospital”.
At 31 March 2017, the BHF had a paid workforce of 3,671 staff, over 3,000 of whom are employed in its retail operation. In terms of staff costs for the last financial year, the charity paid £78.5m of which £67.9m went on wages and salaries.
The BHF had 59 staff members in the last financial year who were paid in excess of £60,000 a year. The highest salary at the organisation was paid to the charity’s chief executive, Simon Gillespie, who was paid £174,241 in 2016/17.
Fundraising compliance ‘action plan’
The British Heart Foundation undertook an internal audit of its compliance with the Code of Fundraising Practice last year and produced an “action plan for addressing suggested improvements’, according to its latest annual report.
The report said the charity held “an audit of our compliance with the Fundraising Regulator’s Code of Fundraising Practice” in the last financial year.
According to the report, the audit “assessed our fundraising activities against the relevant aspects” of the Code, and an “action plan for addressing suggested improvements has been developed and is being implemented and overseen by our audit and risk committee”.
The report also mentioned the ICO investigation late last year, which saw the BHF fined £18,000 for breaches of data protection in relation to its donors and supporters. The report said the “event was highly regrettable and most disappointing” for the organisation, given its “commitment to fundraise lawfully at all times”.
A spokeswoman for the BHF told Civil Society News: “We have always endeavoured to ensure our practices not only follow Fundraising Regulator guidelines but also constantly evolve and improve to match our supporters’ expectations. This is why it was a useful exercise to conduct an internal review of our fundraising practices against the Fundraising Code.
“The report did not identify anything that needed immediate action but, as we insist on the highest possible standards in fundraising, the report identified a number of process enhancements to ensure best practice, the delivery of which we review on a quarterly basis.”
This article has been amended. It previously reported the charity's income net of retail costs as its total income.
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