Financial trends for UK-based INGOs

Research report
Financial trends
for UK-based INGOs
An analysis of Bond members’ income between
2006/07 and 2013/14

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs
Contents
Foreword 1
Executive summary 2
1. Introduction 4
2. Methodology 5
3. Income in 2013/14 8
4. Trends in total income over time 12
5. Trends in income by source 16
6. Trends in income by size of organisation 24
7. Other financial trends 29
8. Non-financial operational data 32
9. Conclusion 38
Appendix: A comparison with the wider
international sector 39
About Bond
Bond is the civil society network for global change.
We bring people together to make the international
development sector more effective. bond.org.uk
Acknowledgements
This report was authored by David Kane from NCVO,
and Graham MacKay and Kathy Peach from Bond.
Particular thanks to Jo Edwards from Mango and
Siham Bortcosh for their comments on earlier drafts.
Financial trends for UK-based INGOs, April 2016
Published by Bond, Society Building, 8 All Saints Street, London N1 9RL, UK
Registered Charity No. 1068839 Company Registration No. 3395681 (England and Wales)
© Bond, 2016
Design: TRUE www.truedesign.co.uk
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License,
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 1
Foreword
This research into the financial profiles of UK-based international
NGOs comes at an important time. We know many agencies are
considering how they can ensure their continued relevance and
financial sustainability in a rapidly changing world.
As the first large scale market analysis of income trends
for UK agencies working in international development,
this report aims to provide useful insights for senior
leaders as they make decisions about how best to
resource their organisations’ work.
The analysis looks at 362 organisations for the period
2006/7 to 2013/14, the most up to date information
available. On the face of it, the overall picture for Bond
members looks healthy – although this study exposes
different patterns according to organisational size, with
both winners and losers.
The data on which this report is based cannot, however,
reflect events of recent months or changes on the
horizon that may well disrupt the trajectory.
Organisations in receipt of Programme Partnership
Agreements (PPAs) funded by DFID know that this
particular funding vehicle comes to an end in
December 2016. Meanwhile, voluntary sector and
government donors are beginning to turn towards
more direct funding of NGOs in the global south,
thereby bypassing the traditional intermediary role
played by international NGOs.
Our data shows that public support for aid and
development appears relatively steady, but we are yet to
see the full effect of changes in fundraising regulation
and practice, and of current political and public debates
about aid. And while contracting has been an important
source of income growth for some agencies, we know
the majority are struggling to recover anywhere near
their full costs – something highlighted in our recent
benchmarking study, Cost recovery: what it means for
CSOs.
In such an uncertain context, no NGO can afford to be
complacent about its funding. A key headline for all NGOs
must surely be the need to look afresh at whether they
have the right business model for their purpose and role
into the future. Those with a clear value proposition and
a vigilant awareness of the evolving external environment
will be best equipped to face the challenge of securing
resources to achieve their development goals.
I hope you find the report interesting and useful.
Sarah Mistry
Director of Effectiveness and Learning, Bond

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 2
Executive summary
Bond worked with NCVO to carry out this research between November
2015 and March 2016 using data for 362 of its member organisations
that is publicly available from the Charity Commission.
The aim of this research is to develop a better
understanding of the income profiles of UK-based
international non-governmental organisations (INGOs),
generate insight into their financial sustainability, and
identify any trends associated with growth or decline in
income. This report provides background intelligence
for Bond’s work supporting INGOs to develop future-fit
business models.
Unlike charities in the UK domestic sector,
UK-based INGOs experienced sustained growth
in income between 2006/07 and 2013/14
Bond members experienced a period of sustained
growth in income between 2006/07 and 2013/14, with a
strong recovery following a brief spell of turbulence after
the 2008 financial crisis. The trend in income for Bond
members diverges significantly from the UK charity
sector as a whole, whose income has not recovered
from the peak of 2007/08. During the period, 44% of
Bond members have experienced either a little rise
or a big rise in income, with a further 19% ticking along.
Just 13% of Bond members have experienced either a big
fall or little fall in income. 1
Income from government has replaced individual
donations as the largest overall source of income
Income from government (UK, overseas and multilateral
donors) has increased by 165% over the last eight years
to nearly £1.3 billion, or 39% of total income in 2013/14,
replacing income from individuals as the largest overall
income source. Much of this growth has come from
contracts, which now make up 25% of total income for
Bond members. Income from individuals also grew
(by 23%) and still remains highly important as the
source for £1.2 billion of income (37% of total income).
Income from voluntary organisations (chiefly grants from
foundations) has also grown, reaching nearly £630m in
2013/14, or 19% of total income.
Large INGOs are doing best – picking up the majority
of income growth from most sources
The largest INGOs (organisations represented in the
>£40m income segment) appear to have experienced
the highest growth in income and increased their market
share of most income streams – government contracts,
government grants, voluntary sector income, individual
donations, and earned charitable income. Although
overall income for this segment is going up, it is still very
uneven with some organisations growing considerably
and others less so.
1. Big fall: income halved or more between 2008/09 and 2013/14;
Little fall: income fell by one-fifth or more between 2008/9 and 2013/14;
Ticking along: income in 2013/14 was within 20% of the income in 2008/9;
Little rise: income rose by one-fifth or more between 2008/9 and 2013/14;
Big rise: income doubled or more between 2008/9 and 2013/14.

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 3
Small INGOs are faring worst, with declining income
across all sources
Smaller agencies (those with income

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 4
1. Introduction
The international development landscape is changing. Urbanisation,
technological advances, and the diversification of development
actors are just some of the trends that will require international
non-governmental organisations (INGOs) to fundamentally rethink
their purpose, their role, and how they fund their work.
As a network for international development
organisations, Bond has a responsibility to help its
members innovate and adapt so that they can keep
meeting the changing needs of poor and marginalised
communities around the world. Our futures and
innovation programme, of which this research is a part,
aims to help organisations to prepare for the future.
Ensuring financial sustainability has always been an
important task for senior leadership teams and boards.
But as traditional sources of financing for INGOs appear
to be coming under pressure, including from recent
public fundraising scandals and political shifts in the
allocation of overseas development assistance (ODA), it
has never been more challenging. The ability to develop
new, future-facing business models will be a critical
test for the sector’s senior leaders over the coming years
– one that Bond will support its members to rise to.
Understanding current income profiles for INGOs, their
vulnerability to disruption in funding, and the trends
associated with growth or decline in income is important
grounding for any discussion of long-term sustainability
and future business models. This report hopes to provide
a snapshot of the present situation for UK-based INGOs,
and an analysis of the trends over the last eight years.
Bond, with NCVO, carried out this research between
November 2015 and March 2016 using data for 362 of
its members that was publicly available from the Charity
Commission.
The data analysis is divided into six main sections:
• Section 3 provides an overview of income for Bond’s
members in 2013/14
• Section 4 covers trends in total income between
2006/7 and 2013/14
• Section 5 examines the trends in different income
sources
• Section 6 looks at how the income profiles of different
sized Bond members has changed between 2006/7
and 2013/14
• Section 7 covers other financial trends, including
fundraising ratios, reserves and assets
• Section 8 brings together non-financial information
on the size and scope of the Bond membership.

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 5
2. Methodology
This report is based on data relating to Bond membership, obtained
from our membership database on 14 October 2015. At that point,
the membership consisted of 445 organisations, including 393 full
members, 35 associate members and 17 other types of members.
The breakdown of membership by type is shown below.
Figure 1: All Bond members by membership type
Membership type
Number of members
Associate 35
Diaspora 1
Full 393
Hosted 8
International Associate 5
Observer 1
Reciprocal 2
Figure 2: Bond members by organisation type
Organisation type
Number of members
Charity – England and Wales 381
Charity – Scotland 3
Charity – Northern Ireland 1
Academic 3
Community Interest Company 3
Private Company 18
Overseas / Not known 37
This list of members was then matched with Charity
Commission data and NCVO sample financial data to
examine the finances of these organisations. Matching
is undertaken using the registered charity number of
each organisation, where available. Three hundred
and seventy-five members had a charity number in
the provided dataset. A reconciliation process was
performed to match the charity names to the register
of charities. This allowed for the existing charity numbers
to be checked, and new numbers added if needed.
Taking into account the duplicates described above,
381 unique charity numbers were available for analysis,
representing 86% of the membership. Organisations that
weren’t included were mainly private companies or those
that are registered outside the UK. From this list we were
able to produce charity data for 362 of these organisations.
The figures only include those organisations with financial
records in those years, and do not take into account any
mergers or re-registrations over the period.
Three hundred and forty-three of the charity numbers
provided were valid, four were replaced with a correct
charity number and 28 were marked as invalid charity
numbers. In addition, 36 new charity numbers were
identified in other organisations. In the resulting data
three charities only had a Scottish registered charity
number.

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 6
2.1 Exclusions
Additional criteria was applied to the data from section
3.3 onwards to present a more typical picture of changes
in income for UK-based INGOs, who currently make up
the majority of Bond’s membership.
The following organisations were excluded from the
trend analysis and analysis of income sources:
• British Council and Save the Children International
(outliers, whose large size heavily skewed overall
results);
• Disasters Emergency Committee (as much of their
income would be passed on to others and so would
be double counted);
• A number of large foundations and trusts (including
Comic Relief);
• Large national UK charities (such as Leonard
Cheshire Disability and RNLI) that only do a small
amount of international work (as unfortunately the
data source does not allow for their international
activities to be separated out from the rest of their
data).
Where appropriate, these excluded organisations have
been presented in charts for comparison purposes.
2.2 Categorising Bond members
For the purpose of analysing trends among Bond
members of different sizes we segmented the data into
the following categories from section 3 onwards.
• Organisations with income of less than £100k
• Organisations with income between £100-£500k
• Organisations with income between £500k-£2m
• Organisations with income between £2m and £5m
• Organisations with income between £5m and £20m
• Organisations with income between £20m and £40m
• Organisations with income over £40m.
From section 5 onwards, we reduced the number of
categories analysed to five; grouping together the three
smaller organisation segments into one category of
>£2m income. This was done to aggregate the spend for
the smaller organisations so we could compare more
easily between segments. But it also means we may
have lost some of the subtlety in the trends.
2.3 Financial values in real terms
When looking at trends in income, we have revised all
the figures to reflect real terms amounts related to the
last year in the study. Therefore 2013/14 is unchanged
and the 2006/07 figures are revised upwards to reflect
their 2013/14 cash value. We believe this gives a more
representative view of the trends.

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 7
2.4 Glossary of income sources and types
• Individuals – including the general public, high net
worth donors and legacies.
• Government – including UK central government
departments, local authorities, or other government
bodies, as well as overseas governments and
supranational and international bodies such as the
EU, UN and World Bank.
• Voluntary sector – including grants from
foundations and earned income from other voluntary
organisations.
• Corporate – including grants from businesses and
any contracts with businesses to provide a service.
• National Lottery – including grants from any of the
UK’s national lottery distribution bodies, notably the
Big Lottery Fund. Unless presented separately, this
income source is included within the voluntary sector
income analysis.
• Earned income – received in return for selling goods
or services.
• Earned charitable income – generated when fees
are paid for a charity to deliver goods or services
that further the charity’s objectives (in this report we
specifically look at earned charitable income from
individuals, which would consist of fees for services
such training, rent of rooms, research etc.
• Earned fundraising income – generated specifically
to raise funds for the charity, for example, from
the selling of donated goods, or admission fees for
fundraising events.
• Investment – received as a return on investment
assets, for example, property, stocks and shares or
other similar assets.
• Donations – income given freely by individuals, for
which they receive no material benefit. This is
sometimes also known as voluntary income.
Donations are usually unrestricted.
• Grants –awards provided by a funder for certain type
of activities, they can be unrestricted but increasingly
tend to be restricted to the purposes specified.
• Contracts – fees for provision of a specific service.
This report specifically looks at trends in contracts
from governments.

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 8
3. Income in 2013/14
In this section we provide a snapshot of the total income for Bond
members in 2013/14, and identify the thirty largest organisations.
We also examine the sources of income for different size organisations
within the Bond membership.
3.1 Total income for the Bond membership in
2013/14
In 2013/14, the latest year for which charity
commission data is available, 362 Bond members had
data we could analyse. The combined total income for
Bond members during this period was £5.7 billion.
As we can see in figure 3, however, over 90% of this
total income is accounted for by just 30 of the largest
organisations. The top five alone are responsible for
around half of all income in 2013/14.
Figure 3: Total income, spending and assets
of Bond members by income segment, 2013/14
Total Total Total
Income Number of income spending assets
segment members (£m) (£m) (£m)
Under 100,000 47 1.5 1.6 58.8
100k - 500k 91 24.8 24.9 55.9
500k - 2m 83 88.8 84.6 106.8
2m - 5m 60 190.4 192.5 124.7
5m - 20m 41 436.3 414.2 605.2
20m - 40m 11 304.0 292.6 102.1
Over 40m 29 4,691.2 4,529.3 2,745.4
Total 362 5,737.1 5,539.7 3,798.9
The thirty largest Bond members and their income in
2013/14 is listed on the next page.

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 9
3.2 The 30 largest Bond members in 2013/14
This list demonstrates the diversity and breadth of the
Bond membership. Many of the organisations included
in this list are household name INGOs, but there are a
number of others (such as RSPB and RNLI) much better
known for their UK-based activities.
We excluded a number of Bond members from further
analysis of income trends to ensure we were presenting
a more accurate picture of the sector as a whole
(see Methodology). The 24 organisations excluded
from the income trends analysis had a combined
income of £2.4 billion in 2013/14.
Figure 4: 30 largest Bond members by income,
2013/14
Charity no. Name
Income (£m)
209131 The British Council* 972.9
1076822 Save the Children International* 656.8
202918 Oxfam GB 401.4
213890 Save the Children UK 370.3
220949 The British Red Cross Society 261.8
265543 Marie Stopes International 242.0
214779 The Salvation Army* 194.1
209603 The Royal National Lifeboat
Institution* 190.0
207544 Sightsavers 187.6
218186 Leonard Cheshire Disability* 162.2
207076 Royal Society for the Protection
of Birds* 132.9
1065972 International Rescue Committee, UK 109.5
1105851 Christian Aid 99.9
328158 Islamic Relief Worldwide 99.1
1072612 Unicef UK 93.7
326568 Comic Relief* 84.4
288701 WaterAid UK 83.6
276035 Plan International UK 80.4
313757 Voluntary Service Overseas 77.0
285908 World Vision UK 71.8
1093861 International Medical Corps (UK) 66.6
1081247 WWF - UK 63.2
274467 ActionAid UK 62.8
265464 Tearfund 62.2
1099776 Malaria Consortium 58.3
285776 CAFOD 56.0
208728 The Zoological Society of London* 55.2
292506 Care International UK 48.3
1076235 BBC Media Action 47.4
SC030289 Mercy Corps Europe 47.0
*excluded from subsequent analysis.

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 10
3.3 Top income sources in 2013/14
Looking at the income of the remaining 338 Bond
members, we see that Bond members have a variety
of different sources and types of income, with income
from government and individuals being the largest.
These two dimensions come together into a matrix,
shown below in figure 5.
Not surprisingly, however, figure 6 shows that
specific income profiles vary by size of organisation.
Organisations with income between £20m and £40m,
receive the greatest proportion of their income from
government, while smaller organisations are more
likely to receive income from individuals and charitable
foundations (voluntary sector). We will explore income
profiles and changes further in sections 5 and 6.
Figure 5: Income matrix for Bond members (minus excluded organisations),
2013/14 (£ millions)
Income source Voluntary Earned Investment Total
Government 399.6 894.8 - 1,294.5
Individuals 996.9 226.0 - 1,223.0
Corporate 120.2 21.9 - 142.0
Voluntary sector 454.1 174.6 - 628.6
National Lottery 6.6 - - 6.6
Investment - - 18.5 18.5
Total 1,977.4 1,317.3 18.5 3,313.2
Figure 6: Income sources of Bond members by income segment, 2013/14 (% of income)
Under 100,000
54%
44%
100k – 500k
20%
41%
36%
Income segment (£)
500k – 2m
2m – 5m
5m – 20m
20m – 40m
26%
27%
30%
67%
39% 9%
23%
49% 5% 18%
39%
8%
20%
21% £24.5m 10%
Total
Over 40m
39%
39%
37% 4% £884.8m £464.0m 20%
37% 4% £628.6m 19%
0%
25% 50%
75%
100%
Government Individuals Corporate Voluntary sector National Lottery Investment

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 11
3.4 Dependence on one majority income source
Despite some obvious differences in income profile,
we also found that over 80% of organisations are
dependent on one funding source for more than half
of their income. 2 Across the Bond membership, 42% of
organisations receive more than half of their funding
from individuals – and this was consistent across all
size organisations, with the exception of those in the
£20m-£40m income category for whom government
is the majority source (see figure 7).
3.5 Levels of restricted vs unrestricted funding
Despite differences in income profile, the proportion of
restricted funding is roughly constant no matter the size
of the organisation. Just over half of the income received
by Bond members is restricted to a particular purpose.
Figure 7: Majority income source of Bond members by income segment, 2013/14 (% of members)
Income segment (£)
Under 100,000
100k – 500k
500k – 2m
2m – 5m
5m – 20m
20m – 40m
57% 43%
23% 8% 46% 23%
23% 23% 32% 19%
15% 25% 44% 4% 12%
8%
25% 43% 5% 16%
89% 11%
Total
Over 40m
10%
30% 50% 10%
16% 20% 42% 4% 16%
0%
25% 50%
75%
100%
No majority Government Indiviudal Investment Private sector Voluntary sector
Figure 8: Restricted and unrestricted income of Bond members by income segment, 2013/14 (% of income)
Income segment (£)
Total
100k – 500k
500k – 2m
2m – 5m
5m – 20m
20m – 40m
Over 40m
53%
51%
45%
53%
53%
53%
53%
47%
49%
55%
47%
47%
43%
45%
0%
Restricted Unrestricted Other
25% 50%
75%
100%
2. Dependency on one funding source is not the same as dependency on a single
funder. There may be multiple funders supporting within a single sector source.

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 12
4. Trends in total income over time
In this section we look at the big picture trends in overall income, as
well as trends in the different income sources for the Bond membership
between 2006 and 2014. We then compare these to the trends
experienced by the broader UK charity sector. We also examine how
many organisations within the Bond membership experienced growth
or decline in income over this period.
4.1 Real-terms growth in income
Figure 9 shows the income of current Bond members
since 1996/97, both in cash terms and in 2013/14 prices
(real terms, adjusted for inflation). The figures only
include organisations with financial records in those
years, and do not take into account any mergers or
re-registrations over the period; they suggest a long
period of sustained growth in income for Bond members,
despite the financial crisis of 2008.
Bond members have seen a different trend in income
to the UK charity sector as a whole, as shown in figure 10
below. While the pattern of income up to 2008 follows a
similar path of increasing income, the UK charity sector
has seen a plateauing of income since then.
Figure 9: Total income of Bond members in cash and real terms between
1996/97 and 2013/14 (£ millions)
3,000
Bond members real terms
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
Bond members cash terms
Excluded members real terms
Excluded members cash terms
500
0
97/98 99/00 01/02 03/04 05/06 07/08 09/10 11/12 13/14
Figure 10: Real terms income of Bond members and the UK charity sector between
2000/01 and 2013/14 (£ millions, indexed, 2007/08=100)
130
110
90
Bond members
UK charity sector
70
50
01/02 03/04 05/06 07/08 09/10 11/12 13/14

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 13
4.2 Growth of different income sources
Figure 11 shows how over the last eight years, income
from government has increased significantly to nearly
£1.3 billion, and in 2013/14 has replaced income from
individuals as Bond members’ largest source of income
(39% of total income). Income from individuals still
remains highly important as the source for £1.2 billion
of income (37% of total income).
Meanwhile, of the remaining income sources, income
from voluntary organisations (chiefly grants from
foundations) has grown in importance, reaching nearly
£630m in 2013/14 – at 19% this is a larger proportion
than for the UK charity sector as a whole (8%).
Income from the National Lottery and investment
income are not significant sources for Bond members.
Despite much focus on the private sector in recent
years, corporate income has not grown significantly for
Bond members, and remains a relatively small source
of funding at just £142 million in 2013/14.
As can be seen in figure 12, the pattern for the UK
charity sector as a whole shows differences in
the trends to those experienced by Bond members.
The UK charity sector has seen income from government
and individuals diverge, with income from government
steadily falling and income from individuals growing
gradually. Both sectors seem to have experienced the
same initial shocks, but Bond members have seen a
recovery in income, unlike domestic-focused charities.
Figure 11: Income sources of Bond members between 2006/07 and 2013/14
(£ millions, 2013/14 prices)
1,200
1,000
Government
Individuals
800
600
400
200
0
Voluntary sector
Corporate
National Lottery
Investment
06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14
Figure 12: Income sources of UK charity sector between 2006/07 and 2012/13
(£ millions, 2013/14 prices)
18,000
15,000
Individuals
Government
12,000
9,000
6,000
3,000
0
Voluntary sector
Investment
Corporate
National Lottery
06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 14
4.3 Growth in income from government
As income from government is now the largest source
for Bond members, we have looked in a bit more depth
to understand where growth in this area has come from
(figures 13 and 14).
Income from the UK central government has grown in
real terms compared to 2006/07, probably as a result of
the government’s commitment to spend 0.7% of gross
national income on aid.
Interestingly, income from international governments
plays an increasingly important role, accounting for 26%
of income from government in 2013/14 compared to
16% in 2006/07. Income from the EU accounts for 12% of
income from government in 2013/14, and has remained
relatively stable over the last eight years.
The pattern is very different for UK charities as a whole,
for whom local government plays a much bigger role,
accounting for half of the income from government.
Looking at how this government funding has been
received, we can see that much of the growth has come
from contracts with government (figure 14). However
compared to the UK charity sector as a whole, Bond
members have also seen steady growth in grant income,
while the wider UK charity sector has seen static or
falling income from grants.
Figure 13: Bond members' sources of income from government between
2006/07 and 2013/14 (£ millions, 2013/14 prices)
1,200
1,000
800
600
400
200
0
06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14
International and
overseas government
UK, central government
UK, local government
EU
Figure 14: How income from government has been received by Bond members
between 2006/07 and 2013/14 (£ millions, 2013/14 prices)
1,200
1,000
800
600
400
200
0
06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14
Contacts
Grants

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 15
4.4 Number of Bond members who have grown
their income
Using an income typology developed by NCVO, we can
see whether the period of overall growth in income
has translated into growth for a majority or minority
of Bond members. The typology is based on the change
in organisations’ income between 2008/09 and 2013/14,
and puts each organisation into one of nine categories
as outlined in figure 15.
Figure 16 below shows the number of Bond members
in each category. The results present a broadly positive
picture of Bond members’ growth over the period.
Forty-four percent of Bond members fall into the
“little rise” and “big rise” categories, with a further 19%
in the “ticking along” category. Just 16 organisations have
seen a big fall in their income, and 28 have seen a small
fall in their income.
Figure 15: Definition of typology categories for all charities based on the change in their income
between 2008/09 and 2013/14
Typology category
Definition
Missing Income was zero in 2013/14
Up then down The upper income reached was more than double the income in both 2008/09 and 2013/14
Big fall Income halved or more between 2008/09 and 2013/14
Little fall Income fell by one-fifth or more between 2008/09 and 2013/14
Ticking along Income in 2013/14 was within 20% of the income in 2008/09
Little rise Income rose by one-fifth or more between 2008/09 and 2013/14
Big rise Income doubled or more between 2008/09 and 2013/14
Down then up The lowest income reached was less than half the income in both 2008/09 and 2013/14
From nothing Income was zero in 2008/09 and greater than zero in 2013/14
Figure 16: Number of Bond members by income change typology
Missing
5
Up then down
12
Big fall
16
Little fall
28
Ticking along
63
Little rise
71
Big rise
78
Down then up
16
From nothing
49
Figure 16: Bond members by income growth typology
Missing
5
Up then down
12
Big fall
16

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 16
5. Trends in income by source
In this section we analyse in more detail the trends in different income
sources and examine which size of organisations have benefitted and which
have missed out. To give as clear a picture as possible this section looks at
each different income stream in turn. Section 6 uses the same information,
but instead analyses it from the perspective of size of organisation.
We have segmented the Bond membership into the
following categories for this analysis:
• Organisations with income under £2m
• Organisations with income between £2m and £5m
• Organisations with income between £5m and £20m
• Organisations with income between £20m and £40m
• Organisations with income over £40m.
5.1 Total change in income by size of organisation
As demonstrated in figure 9 and in figure 17 below, you
can see that the overall trend experienced by Bond
members is a growth in income in real terms.
However, figure 17 hides a much more interesting
picture, including different patterns for different sources
of income, and significant variations in growth between
large and small organisations.
Figure 18 shows how this income has been distributed
across different sized organisations, looking at changes
between 2006/7 and 2013/14.
As can be seen, the £40m income have
grown considerably since 2006/07. However, this growth
is unlikely to be evenly spread across organisations in
the segment.
Figure 18 shows that growth across the whole Bond
membership is somewhat lacklustre, with the exception
of those that are already big. What is not obvious from
this graph is that the >£40m segment has grown its
total market share of all income by 13% while, for all
other segments it has decreased.
The remainder of this section aims to help build
understanding of where this growth has come from for
the >£40m segment, and build a more nuanced picture
to understand what is happening for small and medium
sized organisations.
Figure 17: Total income of Bond members
in real terms between 2006/07 and 2013/14
(£ millions, 2013/14 prices)
3,000
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0
06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14
Figure 18: Income of Bond members in 2006/07 and
in 2013/14 by segment (£ millions 2013/14 prices)
2,000
1,600
1,200
800
400
0
Under 2m 2m-5m 5m-20m 20m-40m Over 40m
2006/07 2013/14

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 17
5.2 Trends in voluntary sector income
Voluntary sector income has grown over time, but this
growth has been erratic, as demonstrated by figure 19.
The variation in growth between different size
organisations is also interesting. The middle segments
of £2-5m and £5-20m both registered some growth, as
did the >£40m segment. However, the £20-40m segment
saw a reduction in real income from this stream, along
with the

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 18
5.3 Trends in corporate income
The overall trend in corporate income over the eight
years has been even more erratic than voluntary sector
income, as can be seen from the graph below (figure 21),
although for the last three years it appears to be steady.
This income stream becomes even more interesting
when we see where the growth is (see figure 22).
The £2-5m segment has experienced exceptional growth
in corporate income, as have the £5-20m segment.
These two segments actually increased their market
share of corporate income, causing the >£40m segment
to lose 5% market share in this area despite its growth.
If we look a little more closely at the trends for the two
segments that have exceptional growth, we find the
£2-5m segment increased its income from corporates
nine-fold in the eight years (from a low base), while
the £5-20m group almost doubled income in this
area (increase of 73%). Much of the overall growth for
organisations in these segments derived from this
growth in income from corporates (see section 6 for
more details).
But growth in this area requires a health warning as the
income from this source is very erratic. As can be seen
in figure 21, there were dramatic rises in 2008/9 and
2010/11, but steep falls in 2009/10 and 2011/12. Over the
period, income from corporates fell to a low of around
£60m and rose to a high of £280m before settling around
£140m for the last three years studied.
Figure 21: Total corporate income between
2006/07 and 2013/14 for all segments
(£ millions, 2013/14 prices)
270
225
180
135
90
45
0
Figure 22: Corporate income in
2006/07 and in 2013/14 by segment
(£ millions, 2013/14 prices)
84
70
56
42
28
06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14
14
0
Under 2m 2m-5m 5m-20m 20m-40m Over 40m
2006/07 2013/14

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 19
5.4 Trends in government grants
Government grants have clearly grown considerably
since 2006, despite a drop occurring around 2012
(see figure 23).
With the exception of the >£40m segment, however,
income from grants has grown only slightly or gone
down for the majority of Bond members. There is
clearly a trend of government grants increasingly
and disproportionately going to larger organisations.
Figure 24 shows that for the >£40m segment
government grants have grown four-fold.
The market share in government grants for the >£40m
segment has grown by 29% to 81% of the market in
2013/14. The market share for all other segments in
government grant income has decreased.
Figure 23: Total government grants income
between 2006/07 and 2013/14 for all segments
(£ millions, 2013/14 prices)
480
400
320
240
160
80
0
06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14
Figure 24: Government grant income
in 2006/07 and in 2013/14 by segment
(£ millions, 2013/14 prices)
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
Under 2m 2m-5m 5m-20m 20m-40m Over 40m
2006/07 2013/14

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 20
5.5 Trends in government contracts
Income to Bond members from government contracts
has grown steadily across the eight years and now forms
more than 25% of the total income (see figure 25).
The particularly interesting trend in this area has been
the performance of the £20-40m segment. They are the
group that has had the strongest growth in this area
proportional to their size. So much so that by 2013/14
it had grown four-fold and was more than 50% of the
total income of this segment. This is quite an outlier and
seems to indicate almost a specialisation in handling
government contracts within this segment. See figure
26 for the relative growth in this income stream for the
different segments.
Overall the £20-40m and >£40m segments have
increased their market share for this income area;
between them occupying 83% of the market in 2013/14
– with organisations in the £5-20m and

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 21
5.6 Trends in earned fundraising income from
individuals
Unlike other sources of income, earned fundraising
income for Bond members has been flat in cash terms
and decreased in real terms over the last eight years
(see figure 27).
The significant story here is the absolute and relative
performance of organisations in the £2-5m segment.
This segment has grown earned fundraising income
(and therefore increased market share) when all but one
other segment of Bond members has seen reductions in
this area (see figure 28).
As the whole market has shrunk, it is not surprising
to see the other individual segments suffer. It is
interesting to note, however, that actual market share
has been maintained by the >£40m segment – albeit
of a smaller pie.
Figure 27: Total earned fundraising income
between 2006/07 and 2013/14 for all segments
(£ millions, 2013/14 prices)
180
150
120
90
60
30
0
06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14
Figure 28: Earned fundraising income
in 2006/07 and in 2013/14 by segment
(£ millions, 2013/14 prices)
150
125
100
75
50
25
0
Under 2m 2m-5m 5m-20m 20m-40m Over 40m
2006/07 2013/14

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 22
5.7 Trends in earned charitable income from
individuals
This area has shown considerable growth, particularly
in 2012 – coincidentally the same time as a drop in
government grants (see figure 29).
What is remarkable about this income stream is that
it is relatively equally distributed across the different
sized organisations. As can be seen from figure 30,
both total amounts and the change are very even with
the exception of

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 23
5.8 Trends in individual donations
Total income from individual donations has grown by
about 23% in real terms for Bond members, despite the
financial crisis (see figure 31).
However this growth has not been evenly shared across
the different segments. As figure 32 shows, there has
been considerable growth for the large organisations in
the >£40m segment, consistent with the trend for most
other income sources. But there has been a severe drop
for those in the £20-40m segment – the same segment
that has experienced increasing success at securing
government contracts (see earlier point). The data
unfortunately doesn’t tell us whether these two changes
in income are linked, or whether the move to contracts
was borne from strategic necessity brought on by the
loss of an old income stream, although there is a strong
correlation.
As would be expected, the change in market share
reflects this change. The >£40m segment now have over
70% of the market share for individual donations, while
all other groups have experienced a decline (drastically
in the case of the £20-40m segment).
Figure 31: Total individual donations income
between 2006/07 and 2013/14 for all segments
(£ millions, 2013/14 prices)
900
750
600
450
300
150
0
06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14
Figure 32: Individual donations income
in 2006/07 and in 2013/14 by segment
(£ millions, 2013/14 prices)
720
600
480
360
240
120
0
Under 2m 2m-5m 5m-20m 20m-40m Over 40m
2006/07 2013/14

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 24
6. Trends in income by size
of organisation
In this section we examine the changes in income source since 2006/07
from the perspective of each different segment of the Bond membership,
as categorised according to their total income in 2013/14. As we look at the
different segments we can see that there is very uneven income growth
and some quite radically different trends are emerging.
6.1 Trends for organisations in the

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 25
6.2 Trends for organisations in the £2-5m income
segment
The income profile for the £2-5m segment is not hugely
different from the organisations in the

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 26
6.3 Trends for organisations in the £5-20m
income segment
The overall income profile for the £5-£20m segment
looks similar to the income profile for the two smaller
segments (see figure 37). However the changes in the
different income sources over time has some unique
features.
Figure 38 shows that over the eight-year period, income
from government contracts has decreased, with a loss of
more than 20% market share. Indeed, this segment has
lost market share (despite seeing growth) in all income
streams apart from corporates and earned fundraising
income. In real terms the growth of this segment has
effectively been just 1.5% for each year (12.5% in total for
the eight sampled years).
Figure 37: Income in 2013/14 by source, £5-20m segment (£ millions)
Voluntary sector
Corporate income
Government grants
Government contracts
Individual donations
Earned charitable income
Earned fundraising income
0 20 40 60 80 100
120
140
Figure 38: Percentage change for all income sources between 2006/07 and
2013/14, >£5-20m segment
Voluntary sector
Corporate income
Government grants
Government contracts
Individual donations
Earned charitable income
Earned fundraising income
Overall
-50% 0 50% 100% 150%
200%

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 27
6.4 Trends for organisations in the £20-40m income
segment
The income profile for this segment is quite different
from the other income profiles in the Bond membership.
Most striking is the large reliance on government
contracts (accounting for about 55% of all income for this
segment (see figure 39).
Figure 40 shows that this segment has grown income
from government grants four-fold since 2006. The other
income area that this segment has grown is earned
charitable income. With increasing commercial acumen
among this segment, this appears part of a deliberate
strategy to succeed in these areas. This growth appears
to have followed a sharp reduction of income from
individual donations, making this segment now highly
dependent on government funding, with grants and
contracts from government together making up more
than two thirds of total income.
The result is that organisations in this segment could
increasingly look like government contractors. To
survive, they will need to be managing their overheads
very tightly and be good at negotiating favourable terms.
Figure 39: Income in 2013/14 by source, £20-40m segment (£ millions)
Voluntary sector
Corporate income
Government grants
Government contracts
Individual donations
Earned charitable income
Earned fundraising income
0 20 40 60 80 100
120
140
Figure 40: Percentage change for all income sources between 2006/07 and
2013/14, £20-40m segment
Voluntary sector
Corporate income
Government grants
Government contracts
Individual donations
Earned charitable income
Earned fundraising income
Overall
-100% 0 100% 200% 300% 400%
500%

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 28
6.5 Trends for organisations in the >£40m
income segment
This segment stands out from the others in one major
way; as a group it has experienced considerable growth.
The organisations’ combined income dwarfs the rest of
the Bond membership, and they have been successful at
capturing larger parts of the income share of the period.
However, as has been pointed out earlier, we know that
growth within this group is very uneven, with just a few
organisations accounting for a lot of the growth in this
segment.
The overall income profile for this segment does not
necessarily look much different from that of the £5-20m
income segment, with the exception of government
grants. The major difference is the rate of growth for
organisations in this segment. Where the overall rate of
growth for the £5-20m segment was 12.5%, the overall
rate of growth for the >£40m segment was 99%.
Figure 42 shows growth in all income sources, apart from
earned fundraising income. The more traditional forms of
income such as individual donations and voluntary sector
income were already large and have grown well, but not
dramatically. However, there has been significant growth
in government contracts, grants and earned charitable
income – areas where size and economies of scale (and
perhaps an ability to cross-subsidise from unrestricted
income) may have afforded advantage.
This segment has suffered some deterioration in earned
fundraising income, but interestingly has not suffered
disproportionately in this area as the whole market has
shrunk.
Figure 41: Income in 2013/14 by source, >£40m segment (£ millions)
Voluntary sector
Corporate income
Government grants
Government contracts
Individual donations
Earned charitable income
Earned fundraising income
0 150 300 450 600
750
Figure 42: Percentage change for all income sources between 2006/07
and 2013/14, >£40m segment
Voluntary sector
Corporate income
Government grants
Government contracts
Individual donations
Earned charitable income
Earned fundraising income
Overall
-50% 0 100% 200% 300% 400%
500%

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 29
7. Other financial trends
This section provides information on other important financial trends for
Bond members, including fundraising ratios, levels of reserves and net assets.
7.1 Fundraising ratios
With the exception of 2007/08, which may be an
anomalous year, Bond members have a higher
fundraising ratio than UK charities as a whole. This
fundraising ratio, which measures the income achieved
for every pound spent on generating funds, was £6.97
in 2013/14 for Bond members, compared to £4.70 for
UK charities. This ratio is higher than the steady level of
around £5, which held between 2008/09 and 2012/13.
7.2 Reserves
An organisation’s reserves represent the proportion of
their assets that can be readily accessed in the event
of a cash flow problem, for example, to meet redundancy
costs if an organisation is forced to close. Reserves can
be expressed in terms of the months of expenditure
that they would cover. According to NCVO’s annual UK
Civil Society Almanac, the average amount of reserves
held by UK operating charities (excluding grant-making
foundations with large assets) is seven months.
Bond members’ reserves are smaller than this on
average, representing less than three months of
expenditure in 2013/14. This level has fallen since
2008/09 when it was over three months.
Figure 43: Income generated per £ spent between 2007/08 and 2013/14 (£)
8
7
6
5
Bond members
All charities
4
3
07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14
Figure 44: Level of reserves between 2006/07 and 2013/14 (months of expenditure)
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 30
Figure 45 shows the proportion of organisations with
different levels of reserves across financial years.
We can see that in 2013/14, two thirds of Bond members
had less than three months expenditure in reserve.
This level has been broadly similar since a fall in
reserve levels after the 2008 recession.
Figure 45: Percentage of Bond members with different levels of reserves
between 2006/07 and 2013/14 (in months of spending)
90%
80%
70%
60%
24%
27%
17%
20% 27%
21%
17%
50%
28%
40%
30%
20%
55%
41%
61%
71%
60%
57%
63% 63%
10%
0%
06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14
0-3 months 3-6 months 6-12 months 12-24 months 24-48 months 48 months +

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 31
7.3 Net assets
The sector’s total net assets, which also include assets
that are more difficult to access, such as property or
long-term investments, and also include liabilities such
as creditors or loan repayments, are worth £1.5 billion.
This includes fixed assets of £756 million, including
tangible fixed assets (chiefly property) of £498 million.
The size of assets held by each income segment is of
course closely related to the number of organisations
in each segment.
Bond members have liabilities of £457 million
(chiefly short term liabilities) plus pension liabilities
of £66 million.
Figure 46: Bond members’ balance sheet, 2013/14
Under 2m 2m-5m 5m-20m 20m-40m Over 40m Total
Tangible fixed assets 10.5 7.2 51.4 9.6 174.3 253.0
Investment assets 7.7 22.0 363.6 5.8 99.2 498.4
Intangible fixed assets 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0 4.8 4.9
Fixed assets 18.3 29.2 415.1 15.4 278.4 756.3
Debtors 11.0 25.8 65.9 39.1 308.3 450.1
Stocks 0.3 0.5 2.1 0.9 16.8 20.6
Current investments 0.8 0.3 27.6 -2.0 71.1 97.8
Cash in hand and at the bank 44.4 73.7 155.4 62.8 369.2 705.4
Current assets 56.5 100.3 251.0 100.8 765.5 1,274.0
Creditors due within one year -9.3 -24.8 -73.0 -40.9 -246.2 -394.2
Net current assets 47.2 75.5 178.0 59.8 519.3 879.8
Creditors due after one year -0.5 -1.1 -5.3 -0.7 -55.5 -63.1
Pension assets 0.0 0.0 -2.6 -1.0 -62.8 -66.3
Net assets 64.9 103.6 585.3 73.5 679.4 1,506.6

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 32
8. Non-financial operational data
This section brings together other information on the size, scope and
reach of the Bond membership from an analysis of Charity Commission
data (including those organisations excluded from earlier sections).
It includes data on the number of employees and volunteers, as well as
information on the geographic operations, and type of activities according
to Charity Commission classifications.
8.1 Workforce data and trends
Data from Charity Commission reports suggest that
Bond members employ around 75,800 people, with
62,000 of these employed by the 29 largest members.
The figures suggest that they have around 160,000
volunteers, although this doesn’t include volunteers
for smaller organisations. 3
Over the eight-year period studied, the workforce of
Bond members has increased by 50%.
The data on volunteers is less consistent, and is unlikely
to provide a reliable time series over the period. The
largest aggregate annual number of volunteers recorded
over the period is 430,000, and the smallest is 42,000.
Figure 47: Employees and volunteers
of Bond members
Income segment Employees Volunteers
£500k - £2m 1,055 7,757
£2m - £5m 1,954 2,786
£5m - £20m 4,695 13,290
£20m - £40m 6,291 2,046
Over £40m 61,805 133,909
Total 75,800 159,788
Figure 48: Workforce of Bond members between 2006/07 and 2013/14
(number of FTE employees)
40k
35k
Bond members
30k
25k
20k
Excluded members
15k
10k
06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14
3. Data on employees and volunteers is available from the data submitted to the Charity Commission by charities with income greater
than £500,000. The figure for employees represents the average number of full time equivalent staff employed during the year.
The guidance does not specify whether this should include only UK-based staff or also include those based overseas. The figure
for volunteering represents the “best estimate of the number of individual UK volunteers involved in the charity during the financial
year”. The figure for volunteers does seem to fluctuate from year to year so should be treated with caution. Data for employees of
organisations with under £500,000 income isn’t available.

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 33
8.2 Bond members’ activities
The Charity Commission classifies organisations’
activities according to three dimensions: the theme of
their work; who they aim to help; and how they help their
beneficiaries. Charities select their own categories, and
can select more than one category in each dimension
to describe their work.
Looking first at the theme that organisations select,
“education/training” and “the prevention or relief of
poverty” are the two aims that are most likely to be
selected by Bond members.
Figure 49: Number of Bond members engaged in themes of work
as defined by Charity Commission classifications, 2013/14
Education, training
274
The prevention or relief of poverty
257
Overseas aid, famine relief
210
Economic, community development,
employment
The advancement of health
or saving of lives
173
170
General charitable purposes
96
Disability
85
Environment, conservation, heritage
74
Human rights, religious or racial harmony,
equality or diversity
56
Other charitable purposes
Accommodation, housing
Religious activities
Arts, culture, heritage, science
41
37
32
30
Amateur sport
Animals
Recreation
Armed forces, emergency service efficiency
16
14
4
2

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 34
Turning to the groups that Bond members aim to
benefit (see figure 50), “children/young people” come
top of the list, along with “the general public/mankind”.
The presence of “other charities or voluntary bodies”
in third place is likely to reflect the role that southern
civil society organisations play as partners in helping
international organisations achieve their aims.
Finally, looking at how organisations achieve their
aims, the most common activity is “providing advocacy/
advice/information” (see figure 51). This reflects the
vital role of campaigning in Bond members’ operations.
Other popular activities include “providing services”
and “making grants to organisations” (presumably
southern-based).
Figure 50: Number of Bond members aiming to help different groups
as defined by Charity Commission classifications, 2013/14
Children, young people
The general public, mankind
210
215
Other charities or voluntary bodies
152
People with disabilities
124
Other defined groups
117
Old people
102
People of a particular ethnic or racial origin
46
Figure 51: Number of Bond members carrying out different activities
as defined by Charity Commission classifications, 2013/14
Provides advocacy, advice or information
242
Makes grants to organisations
205
Provides services
180
Provides human resources
Sponsors or undertakes research
151
150
Acts as an umbrella or resource body
88
Other charitable activities
79
Makes grants to individuals
Provides buildings, facilities or open space
58
55
Provides other finance
36

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 35
8.3 Geographic operations
In returns to the Charity Commission, charities have to
indicate the areas they currently work in. These can be
individual local authorities within the UK, or countries
around the world. The structure of the data means it is
not possible to show trends over time in this data, but
the figures below are a snapshot of the current picture.
Because of the nature of the data, all Bond members
have been included, including the primarily national
charities that are separately presented in the rest of
the data.
The figure below shows the number of Bond members
working in one or more countries in world regions as
defined by the World Bank. Given the memberships’
focus on development, it is no surprise that more Bond
members work in Sub-Saharan Africa than in other
regions.
Figure 53 shows the number of countries that Bond
members operate in, according to the returns to the
Charity Commission. These figures don’t necessarily
mean that every country is equally served – in particular
those organisations that work in large numbers of
countries are unlikely to have a significant presence
in all of them.
Figure 52: Number of Bond members operating in different regions
as defined by World Bank classifications, 2013/14
Sub-Saharan Africa
287
South Asia
214
East Asia and Pacific
161
Latin America and Caribbean
151
Europe and Central Asia
Middle East and North Africa
128
136
North America
61
Figure 53: Number of countries covered by Bond
members, as reported to the Charity Commission
2013/14
Number of Number of Bond % of Bond
countries members members
0-9 194 51%
10-19 78 21%
20-49 58 15%
50-99 34 9%
Over 100 13 3%

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 36
Figure 54 shows the top 20 countries where Bond
members say they are working, excluding the UK.
As indicated above, African countries dominate the list.
It is worthy of note that the top ten countries are also all
members of the Commonwealth, with fifteen out of the
top twenty being Commonwealth members.
Using the OECD list of 50 “fragile states” 4 , we can show
the proportion of Bond members working in at least one
of those countries (see figure 54 and 55). Three hundred
and one Bond members – over three quarters – are
working in one or more fragile states. As fragile states
become an increasing focus of the fight against poverty 5 ,
we can see that Bond members are well-placed to
respond.
Figure 54: Top 20 countries with most
Bond members reporting activity in 2013/14
Countries
Number of members
Kenya * 183
Uganda * 174
India * 158
Tanzania * 153
Zambia * 121
South Africa * 118
Ghana * 117
Malawi * 117
Bangladesh * 116
Pakistan * 112
Ethiopia 108
Zimbabwe 108
Sudan 106
Sierra Leone * 104
Nepal 104
Sri Lanka * 98
Philippines 94
Nigeria * 90
Rwanda * 90
Mozambique * 81
* Current member of the Commonwealth
Figure 55: Number of Bond members active
in OECD-defined “fragile” and “not fragile” states
Fragile
301
Not fragile
76
4. OECD (2015) List of fragile states and economies used for preparing the 2015 OECD
report on States of Fragility. Available from: https://www.oecd.org/dac/governancepeace/conflictandfragility/docs/List%20of%20fragile%20states.pdf
5. HM Treasury, Department for International Development (2015) UK aid: tackling
global challenges in the national interest. Available from: https://www.gov.uk/
government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/478834/ODA_strategy_
final_web_0905.pdf

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 37
Figure 56: Number of Bond members operating in OECD-defined “fragile states” 2013/14
Code Country
Number of members
AF Afghanistan 72
BD Bangladesh 116
BA Bosnia & Herzegovina 40
BI Burundi 52
CM Cameroon 58
CF Central African Republic 42
TD Chad 43
KM Comoros 11
CD Congo (D. R.) 76
CG Congo, Rep. of 34
CI Cote d'Ivoire 48
EG Egypt 53
ER Eritrea 29
ET Ethiopia 108
GN Guinea 35
GW Guinea Bissau 22
HT Haiti 67
IQ Iraq 51
KE Kenya 183
KI Kiribati 14
XK Kosovo 25
LR Liberia 70
LY Libya 26
MG Madagascar 40
MW Malawi 117
Code Country
Number of members
ML Mali 59
MH Marshall Islands 8
MR Mauritania 31
FM Micronesia 9
MM Myanmar 77
NP Nepal 104
NE Niger 54
NG Nigeria 90
KP North Korea 18
PK Pakistan 112
RW Rwanda 90
SL Sierra Leone 104
SB Solomon Islands 23
SO Somalia 70
SS South Sudan 0
LK Sri Lanka 98
SD Sudan 106
SY Syria 56
TL Timor-Leste 28
TG Togo 38
TV Tuvalu 10
UG Uganda 174
PS West Bank & Gaza 67
YE Yemen 41
ZW Zimbabwe 108
Applying the World Bank’s income grouping of
economies, 6 we can see that Bond members also
concentrate their efforts in low- and middle-income
countries. Seventy-five percent of members work in at
least one low-income country, with 77% working in at
least one lower-middle income country. Thirty percent
also work in an OECD country (excluding the UK) –
likely to include fundraising, campaigning and lobbying
work – demonstrating the unique global reach and
influence of the Bond network.
Figure 57: Number of Bond members active
in World Bank-defined country income groups
Low income
Lower middle income
Upper middle income
High income non-OECD
High income OECD
86
112
223
282
292
6. World Bank (n.d.) Country and Lending Groups. Available from: http://data.worldbank.org/about/country-and-lending-groups

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 38
9. Conclusion
This research found the Bond membership has experienced a period of
sustained growth in income over the eight years studied, largely as a
result of an increase in income from UK central government and overseas
governments (particularly in the form of contracts).
Income from government is now the single largest
income source for Bond members. Income from
individuals and the voluntary sector also grew in the
period, albeit much more modestly, while income from
the corporate sector did not increase substantially and
remains a relatively small source of funding.
Despite the overall picture of income growth, however,
the distribution of income across the Bond membership
was highly uneven – with lacklustre growth in all
segments apart from the largest organsations. The
segment of organisations with an income of >£40m
appears to be doing best and increasing their market
share of most income streams – including government
contracts and grants, voluntary sector income, individual
donations and earned charitable income. However, we
know that this hides considerable differences in growth
within this segment. Nevertheless, the opportunities for
market share for this segment still appear considerable.
The small INGO segments meanwhile, have faced
declining income across the board with a loss of market
share in all areas. For those in the mid-range segments
(£2-5m, £5-20m and £20-40m incomes), we are perhaps
beginning to see some interesting specialisation and
a more commercial focus, with noteworthy growth in
corporate income (£2-5m and £5-20m segments), earned
income and government contracts (£20m-£40m).

Financial trends for UK-based INGOs 39
Appendix: A comparison with the
wider international sector
In this section, we have made comparisons between the Bond membership
and the wider international sector.
To define this we have used category 9100 from the
International Classification of Non-Profit Organisations
(ICNPO), as applied to the register of charities in England
and Wales. However, the nature of classification systems
like this one means that it doesn’t necessarily align with
how the Bond and its network views the international
development sector.
In particular, the category covers all organisations whose
main work is carried out overseas, a wider definition
than “international development”. It could include,
for example, the funding of universities in developed
countries.
We also draw on organisations’ classification of the
scope of their benefit. This is a free-text field, but has
been classified into the following categories: local (within
the UK); national (within the UK); overseas; and national
and overseas.
Data on these organisations is drawn from the UK Civil
Society Almanac, published by NCVO, and from the
database.
Data from the latest Almanac identifies 5,344
organisations in the UK in 2012/13 classified into the
“international” ICNPO category, representing 3.3% of
all organisations. These organisations have combined
income of £3.6 billion and spending of £3.6 billion,
as well as holding assets worth £2.2 billion.
Income from individuals represents 39% of these
organisations’ income, while government provides 30%.
Both of these figures are slightly lower than the average
for all UK charity sector organisations (46% and 33%
respectively). International organisations have a much
higher proportion of their funding from the voluntary
sector – 25% compared to 8% for the sector as a whole
– reflecting the importance of grant-making foundations
in their funding mix.
Separately, the Almanac finds that 9,092 organisations
operate overseas, with a further 5,000 saying that they
operate nationally and overseas. These represent 6%
and 3% of the total sector respectively – 78% of the UK
charity sector say they operate at a local level (within
the UK).
As may be expected, Bond members are concentrated
in both of these categories. However, the nature of these
classification systems, and the wide variety of activities
that organisations perform, means that there is not
an exact one-to-one correlation.
When looking at the area of benefit, 81% of bond
members say they work overseas, with the remaining
19% working both nationally and overseas.
The results for ICNPO are more mixed. Just under half
of Bond’s members are classified into the “international”
category (45%), but the mixed nature of many of
Bond’s members means that over half are included
in other categories – including social services (13%),
grant-making foundations (7%) and religion (7%).
However, it is clear that Bond members represent
the most substantial part of the UK’s international
development sector. The combined income of Bond
members in 2012/13 – £4.7 billion – was greater than the
income of all organisations classified as international
in the ICNPO category in that year. And the 45% of Bond
members that are in that category had an income of
£3.1 billion, suggesting that nearly 90% of the economic
activity of these international organisations is contained
in Bond members.
Overlap between Bond members and other
international organisations
Area
of benefit
overseas
Bond
membership
81
130 22
131
ICNPO
international

Bond
Society Building
8 All Saints Street
London
N1 9RL, UK
+44 (0)20 7837 8344
bond.org.uk
Registered Charity No. 1068839
Company registration No. 3395681 (England and Wales)