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Giving to charity Updated: 28 Jan 2009

Fundraising expenses

Some of the bigger charities voluntarily publish information about their fundraising expenses. We looked at the annual accounts of six charities (see our table below) and found all provided figures on fundraising costs, although these were sometimes listed as "marketing and promotion".

But different charities use different ways of calculating costs and so you don't know whether you're comparing apples with apples. Requirements for consistent reporting of expenses could make it a whole lot easier. We have a Charities Act that regulates charities (see "Rules of the game"). But its regulations don't help here.

Most of the charities we looked at are spending much more on fundraising than they used to. When we published an article on charities 30 years ago, fundraising costs ranged between 4 and 12 percent of income received from the public. This time around they ranged between 15 and 32 percent.

Our figures are based on a small number of charities and need to be interpreted with caution. But the arrival of fundraising companies on the scene suggests the trend could well be more widespread.

Guide to the table

Our data taken from charities' annual accounts for the year stated. 'Fundraising $ as % of income from public (1976)' is from a Consumer article of that year.

A = accounts cover 16-month period.
B = includes $184 million in government contracts for delivery of residential care and vocational services.
C = for 2005/06 year
D = fundraising expenses for Save the Children were not calculated.