This report provides an overview of income and expenditure, results and reserves with ratios for 2015. The total income for 2015 amounted to just under € 1.4 million and ChildsLife achieved a total expenditure to projects of nearly € 960.000.

Overview income and expenditure in 2015

Overall income

An overview of income is provided below. Substantial discrepancies between actual and budgeted results will be clarified subsequently.

Overview of income:

Substantial Discrepancies

In 2015 the overall income of the organization amounted to over € 1.3 million. The overall income decreased by € 269,000 over 2014 due lack of availability of appropriate goods for ChildsLife programs in 2015.

Income from donations and gifts and designated gifts amounted to € 756.329 and was up by 18% over 2014. Also income from legacies and corporate sponsoring increased in 2015. Income from events and school decreased in 2015. ChildsLife anticipates the income to increase in these areas in 2016.

Corporate sponsoring

CBF regulations state that donations through corporate sponsoring have to be accounted as both income and fundraising cost. As a result it appears that ChildsLife has utilised general income to fund advertising which is not the case as all advertising in 2015 was fully sponsored.

Funds to projects

Total funds to projects amounted to € 958.859 in 2015. € 804.694 was spent on Structural Aid. The remaining amount was spent on Information/Education, Preparation/Coordination and Emergency Aid. ChildsLife’s total funds to projects was €268.000 lower than budgeted due lack of available goods for programs.

Overview of expenditure:

Total expenditure to Structural Aid came to €805.000 in 2015. ChildsLife provided support to 3 countries in 2015, as detailed below. The budgeted aid to Romania more than doubled due to increased activity, whereas aid to Kenya remained just under budget. Budgeted aid to Moldova did not take place in 2015 since Moldova was supplied with large quantities of appropriate goods in the last quarter of 2014 and was still absorbing these goods during 2015. Further supplies to Moldova were therefore postponed to the first and second quarter of 2016.

Expenditure by country

Fundraising costs

The costs for fundraising were € 240.000 in 2015. This is € 46.000 more than budgeted due to sponsored services. CBF regulations state that donations through corporate sponsoring have to be accounted as both income and fundraising cost. As a result it appears that ChildsLife has utilised general income to fund advertising which is not the case as all advertising in 2015 was fully sponsored.

Management and administration costs

Management and administration costs ChildsLife incurs within the context of control and administration. In total these costs amounted to € 29.000 in 2015. This includes a percentage of salaries, office, accommodation and other general costs, including audit fees. The costs for management and administration are € 1.000 more than budgeted but decreased by almost € 10.000 over 2014.

Operating costs

In accordance with regulation 650 by Dutch CBF accreditation, ChildsLife allocates operating costs to programs, fundraising, management and administration costs.

Overview of distribution of operating costs

Personnel costs

In 2015, the costs for personnel were € 78.000 lower than in 2014 due to one less staff position and a restructuring of staff working hours.

Additional operating costs

Additional operating costs were € 220.000 lower than budgeted and €2 million lower than 2014. As part of a warehouse restructuring program, Moldova was supplied with exceptionally large quantities of appropriate goods in the last quarter of 2014 and was still absorbing these goods during 2015. Further supplies were therefore held off and postponed to the first and second quarter of 2016.

The results and reserves for 2015

Continuity reserve

In 2015 the continuity reserve increased by almost €53.000 as a result of a combination of increased income and cost cutting measures.

Designated reserves

Designated reserves (inventory and tangible fixed assets) amounted to € 82.000.

Designated funds

In 2015, a total of €182.000 was received in designated funds of which a total of € 171.000 was released. Remaining funds will be released in the first quarter of 2016. Funds were used for the ChildsLife education program; the ChildsLife Live, Learn, Earn Program; school feeding programs in Kenya and ChildsLife AnneNoor Education Centers in Romania.

Ratios of Expenditure

The ratio expenditure to projects in relation to total income is 70%. This indicates which part of income is spent on projects.

The ratio expenditure to projects in relation to total expenses is 78%. This indicates which part of total expenses is spent on projects.

In 2015 the ratio costs for fundraising is 17%. This ratio indicates the relation between costs of fundraising and total income of fundraising. This is well below the standard of 25% set by Dutch charity regulator CBF, and somewhat above the standard of ChildsLife of 15%.

The ratio management and administration is 2%. This ratio indicates which part of total expenses was spent on management and administration costs. In 2015 this ratio is 2% and is lower than ChildsLife’s internal standard of 3%.

Expectations for the year 2016

Total forecast of income for 2016 is forecasted at € 1 million. Income is planned from several funding streams including direct mail, foundations and special events. Funds to programs in 2016 are budgeted at € 726.640 of which € 550.000 will be spent on structural aid. ChildsLife has budgeted € 12.000 for additional investment in communications, including new website and 20^th anniversary activities.

In addition, ChildsLife main focus is always on achieving the funds to implement projects, to maintain a balanced budget and increase the continuity reserve. ChildsLife will continue to carefully invest in fundraising activities that will lead to increased income.

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