Annual income at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) Children’s Charity has surpassed £100m for the second time, with a fundraising drive leading to a sharp rise last year.
According to its recently filed accounts, GOSH reported a record total income of £108m in the year to March 2023, up from £74.5m the year before.
Fundraising income streams accounted for 92% of the total income at £99.5m, 39% higher than the previous year.
The charity raised £44.7m from direct gifts, an increase of £15.8m on 2021-22.
Legacy income also rose by £9m to £31m, making it the second-largest fundraising income stream.
A spokesperson from GOSH Charity told Civil Society that it received several legacies over £500,000 during the year, which contributed to the increase.
The charity’s income from community fundraising and mass participation events increased by £1.8m on the previous year, while partnerships, campaigns, events and other income was also up £2.1m. Meanwhile, income from fundraising trading activity increased by £1.8m.
It comes after the charity hit its £100m fundraising target last May, its largest-ever campaign.
The private phase of fundraising for the charity’s Children’s Cancer Centre was launched during the financial year, which saw some high-value donations and pledges that amounted to £135m in total, the accounts read.
Investment in fundraising
GOSH Charity’s total expenditure increased from £59.2m to £69.1m in 2022-23.
It increased expenditure on raising funds by £12m to £40.5m, with £6.7m more spent on raising funds by direct gifts from individuals and trusts.
The charity also spent £3.6m on fundraising support teams, compared to nothing the year before.
GOSH Charity received a total of 900 fundraising complaints for the year, an increase of 244 complaints on the previous year.
The accounts state that the increase is “directly attributable to the fact that we have significantly increased our fundraising activity during the year in line with our new and ambitious fundraising strategy”.
Most complaints were related to its face-to-face fundraising activity, the charity said.
Staff costs rise
The charity said that it had a “relatively high turnover” of staff for the year and that new starters had increased the diversity of the organisation.
GOSH Charity recorded an average total of 248 members of staff at the year-end, an increase of 48 on the previous year.
The fundraising team saw the highest increase in staff, with the average number of employees in the area rising to 136. Total staff costs increased by £2.8m to £12.4m for the financial year.
The highest earning member of staff was the chief executive who earned between £160,000 - £170,000 for the financial year.
Some 13 employees made between £60,000 - £70,000 for the year, four more than the previous year.
GOSH Charity reported a gender pay gap of 10.3%. Some 76% of its workforce in 2023 was female.
Despite women making up more than 60% of the workforce in each pay quartile, men continued to make more money on average than women at the organisation.
The highest percentage of males was in the upper pay quartile at 34.4%.
The accounts read: “We recognise that we continue to have a comparative imbalance of males in the highest quartile earning roles when considered against the overall male-to-female ratio of the charity.
“This has continued to be the case despite the recruitment of 17 more females and three more males in the upper quartile in the 2022-23 period.”
