Save the Children International has reported an income of £714m, making it one of the largest UK-based charities.
The figure puts it in fourth place on the Charity Commission's index of charities by highest income - above Nuffield Health and Cancer Research UK.
Save the Children International's income for the year ending 31 December 2014 is an increase of £136.4m from the previous year when its earnings stood at £576.6m.
However the charity has played down the significance of the growth, saying that it has come about because more funds from Save the Children charities around the world are being channelled through the central body.
The milestone comes as the charity’s first ever chief executive Jasmine Whitbread prepares to leave at the end of the year after five years in the role.
Whitbread’s role was created to bring the 29 independent national Save the Children charities together under one umbrella led by an international board.
The US charity contributed the most - £249.2m. The UK’s Save the Children contributed a total of £220.2m, while Sweden contributed £55.8m. The charity’s Norwegian branch contributed £39.5m, while the Danish branch brought in £34.5m.
Expenditure also rose as a result of international emergencies during the year to £713.7m, from £572.8m in 2013.
Some £67m went to emergencies in Syria, the Philippines and Ebola affected areas, while £35m was spent on country office transitions. Some £39m was spent on other growth areas, including the charity’s partnership with the international NGO, Merlin.
Expenditure on staff was £180.2m, with the charity's highest earner taking home a salary of between £360,000 and £375,000.
The charity’s 2014 annual report said its aim is to make the charity “greater than the sum of its parts, increasing [its] impact and results for children”.
“While we are clear that we want to see ourselves, and others to see us, as one Save the Children, we also need to be clear about our particular role as Save the Children International, and where we expect to add value for Save the Children as a whole,” the report said.
Save the Children International now operates out of 55 country offices, seven regional hubs and four advocacy offices as well as a central office in London. The only countries still due to transition to Save the Children International are Pakistan and Sudan, according to the report.
Disparity between the international branches attracted criticism last year when former British prime minister Tony Blair was given an award for his work at two G8 summits by the US branch. The decision prompted widespread backlash. A petition calling for the award to be withdrawn was signed by 125,000 people and an internal letter from staff at the charity was signed by 500 people.
While the award attracted criticism in the UK, it received acceptance in the US.
In March, chief executive of Save the Children UK, Justin Forsyth said he was sorry the award had attracted so much negative attention.
“I’m sorry it has upset so many people it’s not really what we do at Save the Children,” he told BBC radio 4’s Today programme. “This has been a really unnecessary distraction… It was an award given by our sister organisation in the United States. It is a very different political context and we have had hardly any complaints there.”
