Save the Children International has revised down its growth expectations for the next couple of years after reporting a decline in its income.
According to the charity’s recently filed accounts for the year to December 2023, its income saw a 4% dip from $1.6bn (£1.31bn) in 2022 to $1.5bn (£1.23bn).
This came after the charity saw a strong income growth in 2022 when its income grew 20% from 2021.
Despite raising a record amount of new income from institutional donors in 2023, the charity’s overall income dipped due to a fall in private funding.
Meanwhile, high local inflation rates and the rising cost of living continued to be challenging, its 2023 accounts state.
“Our income growth has not been as strong as expected when we set our ambitious targets in 2021,” the report reads.
Some 93% of its income was received directly from its member organisations or through grants from its association, compared with 98% in 2022.
Save the Children United States continues to contribute the most funding. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) was the largest donor supporting the charity with a total portfolio of $351m.
Income from gifts-in-kind was $91m, similar to 2022, while income from investment grew from $3.9m in 2022 to $12.3m in 2023 due to higher interest rates.
Record expenditure
Its spending in 2023 also surpassed its 2022’s. In 2023, its expenditure was $1.55bn compared with $1.51bn in 2022.
The record expenditure was due to its increased humanitarian work, with the charity responding to 121 global emergencies in 2023, 14 more compared with 2022.
In 2023, the charity’s humanitarian expenditure was $885m compared with $856m in 2022.
This included spending $50m in response to the earthquake in Syria and Türkiye and $102m in Ukraine in 2023.
Largest employer in the UK charity sector
The charity is the largest employer in the UK charity sector, with 19,548 employees as of October 2024, according to the Charity Commission.
In 2023, its total staff cost increased from $409m to $445m.
It gave a 5% raise to its staff in the UK and Europe due to the rising cost of living, with employees on low salary grades receiving an additional 2% on top of the 5%.
“The decisions were based on market comparison, affordability, and the rising costs our people are currently facing,” the accounts state.
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