2023-12-31-accounts - Environmental Funders Network

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Annual Report and Accounts

Year Ended 31 December 2023

Registered Charity Numbers: 1181318 and SC050579

Environmental Funders Network

Contents of the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2023

Page Report of the Trustees 1 to 18 Independent Auditor’s Report 19 to 22 Statement of Financial Activities 23 Balance Sheet 24 Statement of Cash Flows 25 Notes to the Financial Statements 26 to 33

Environmental Funders Network

Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2023

The trustees present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 December 2023. The trustees have adopted the provisions of Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019).

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

Our mission and vision

Environmental Funders Network (‘EFN’) aims to increase the levels of philanthropic support for environmental causes and to improve its overall effectiveness.

Our vision is of a world where people and planet thrive.

Our activities and goals

We are a network of, and for, funders and advisors with an interest in the environment, supporting the whole philanthropic ecosystem, from individual donors and private foundations to intermediaries, pooled funds, and philanthropy and wealth advisors.
We also support those working on and fundraising for environmental issues.
We create connections between people funding or working on environmental issues, and bolster their agency, ambition, and effectiveness.
We are UK-based, with a UK and international outlook.

We have three goals, or workstreams, aligned with our mission:

1. Expanding environmental philanthropy (encouraging new donors to support environmental causes, and established donors to increase their giving)

2. Improving the effectiveness of environmental philanthropy

3. Supporting those that do environmental work to be more effective

Our work

We use several approaches within each pillar of our work:

Research to understand patterns of grant making, gaps, and the priorities and needs of the sector

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Convening to create, build and strengthen relationships between funders, between environmental groups, and between funders and environmental groups
Publications and other products to inform, inspire and motivate funders and the wider sector
Informational talks, workshops, field trips and retreats to input from a range of experts and practitioners

We aim to provide leadership in our programming and push boundaries, where we feel necessary.

The objects of the charity

The object of the Environmental Funders Network is the promotion of the effective use of resources for charitable purposes by charitable and non-charitable bodies in the Environmental Sector, being the part of the voluntary sector concerned with the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment, for the benefit of the public by:

a. liaising with, researching and acting as a forum for the exchange of information between organisations working in the Environmental Sector, in order to identify how the sector might better achieve charitable purposes in conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment, including but not limited to identifying funding gaps and gaps in service provision in the sector;
b. providing advice and information to existing and potential funders of charities and non-charitable bodies working in the Environmental Sector to encourage them to increase their funding and to provide funding in a way which increases the effective application of funding for charitable purposes by the Environmental Sector;
c. providing charities working in the Environmental Sector with strategic and fundraising advice; and
d. such other means as the charity trustees shall from time to time think fit.

Public benefit

EFN's trustees have given due regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit. They consider that EFN’s activities and achievements, outlined in this report, demonstrate considerable benefit to the environmental philanthropic sector, both in making it more effective and expanding it (encouraging new donors to support environmental causes, and established donors to increase their giving). In addition, EFN's work has supported those working on and fundraising for environmental issues to be more effective. By helping to ensure that environmental work is better resourced and supported, EFN provides clear public benefit to all.

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ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE

Main achievements of the charity during the year

EFN’s work is divided into three strands. We have outlined our work in each one below:

Workstream One: Expanding environmental philanthropy

We focus on two areas of work to bring about the changes we want to create among funders not yet supporting the environment or doing so at a very low level – inspiring them to act and helping them develop the sense of agency to do so.

We raise awareness of the need for environmental philanthropy and its catalytic power and help funders who are not yet supporting the environment to see how environmental issues connect to the issues they already focus on. We also advise and support new donors, often in partnership with other networks, and particularly focusing on intersections between the environment and other social issues.

‘If all thematic areas had network organisations like EFN, philanthropy would be transformed.’ - EFN supporter

In 2023, this strand of work involved the following activities:

Big Give Green Match Fund: In 2021, EFN and the Big Give launched the annual Green Match Fund , a campaign to raise donations for environmental causes from members of the public and raise awareness of the need for more funding to support environmental charities. Many of our members, as well as other individuals, foundations and companies, provide the match funding that makes the campaign possible. The campaign is building in momentum, raising £1.8 million for 112 charities in 2021, £2.3 million for 146 charities in 2022, £4.3 million for 178 charities in 2023 and over £6m in 2024 – a total of nearly £15m in four years.

Arts for Life is our series run in collaboration with the Arts Funders Group to explore how funders can support the arts, culture and entertainment sectors to inspire action on the climate and nature crisis and to reimagine the world we live in. Activities to date have included online briefings and in-person events incorporating design, music, photography and poetry. We have created a list of organisations working at the arts and environment intersection and are exploring the possibility of setting up a pooled fund.

Our field visits aim to bring together EFN members and new funders to learn about a particular issue in nature, with a view to directing more funding towards it, or through stewarding their own land. In 2023, there were three field visits – to Pentwyn in Wales, on rewilding and philanthropic loans; to Hoyle and Lavington farm in Sussex, on nature friendly farming and wildflower restoration; and to Sarratt in Hertfordshire, on chalk streams and freshwater conservation.

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Place-based work : In November, we hosted an event in Manchester to support and inspire funders in that part of the country. Held at the Manchester Art Gallery alongside their exhibition on climate justice, the event was about the links between a thriving environment, healthy people and resilient communities.

Partnerships : We work in partnership with a wide range of philanthropy organisations, networks and advisors to support them and the people they work with to start giving to environmental causes, or to give more. This includes providing bespoke advice, co-organising meetings and events, providing training, and contributing to resources to inform and inspire donors about how they can give impactfully to environmental causes.

Environmental Finance & Learning Fund (EFLF) : We were pleased to continue our partnership with the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation (EFF) to deliver the learning programme of the EFLF. 15 funders participate and have contributed £679,000 towards the fund. The fund was then matched three times over by EFF to create a pot of £2.7m to deploy in environmental investments over three years. In 2023, EFLF moved into its second year, continuing to help participants learn about and gain confidence in making environmental investments.

In our mid-term survey of participants, we found:

58% of respondents reported that their environmental investing has already increased because of the programme
50% said they plan to increase the funds they commit to environmental investments in the future
A third of respondents reported that their environmental giving has increased because of the programme
75% reported increased confidence and skills for environmental investing

Environmental Impact Investing Group (EIIG) : Trusts and foundations are increasingly conscious about the need to align their investments to support – rather than undercut – their missions. Many are doing this through screening out harmful industries by investing in funds that promise less harm, but fewer have adopted an approach to investing for impact. The EIIG is a pilot initiative to help philanthropic investors learn about how to invest for positive environmental impact while building a network of investors who know and trust one another. In 2023 we pre-launched the pilot with an introductory webinar and the EIIG now has 115 participants signed up.

Scotland Programme : Our work in Scotland has grown substantially since March 2020 when we first hired our Scotland Coordinator (Julie Christie) to network and inspire funders to support Scottish environmental work. In 2023, implementing our strategic plan, with support from our Scotland Advisory Group, it included delivering our first ever funder field trip to Southwest Scotland to showcase some of the region’s world-class natural heritage and ‘best-in-class’ environmental projects, and our inaugural Celebration of Environmental Philanthropy networking event in Edinburgh, kindly hosted by the Edinburgh Earth Initiative. Other Scotland-focused activities during the year included:

Organising five in-person gatherings and one online event, attended by 130 people, of whom just under 75% were funders.
Producing and distributing a new publication, ‘Supporting effective environmental action in Scotland’.

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Helping to secure £150,000 of match funding from Scotland-based funders for this year's Big Give Green Match Fund campaign - as a result, 15 eNGOs secured nearly £250,000 for work in, or delivered from, Scotland.
Connecting with, and supporting, innumerable individual funders and eNGOs, and their networks.

As illustrated above, the expanding environmental philanthropy strand of our work is very varied, connecting with a wide range of funders to inspire, motivate and support them to give to environmental causes. Our data – to be published in 2024 as ‘Where the Green Grants Went’ shows this is paying off: environmental giving from UK trusts and foundations has risen very significantly in recent years, from a base of £110m per year in 2016 to just over £600m in 2021 (the latest year for which we have a full dataset). We are very proud of the role we have played in fostering this growth and look forward to seeing it continue.

Workstream Two: Improving the effectiveness of environmental philanthropy

This pillar of our work focuses on supporting funders to be more effective in their giving. We are approaching key tipping points in terms of global climate and biological systems: action taken today has a much greater chance of success than 10 or 20 years down the road. In this window of opportunity, it is vital that funders act on a keen understanding of how to give the funds away most effectively. Our events and research in this strand of our work support funders to strengthen their impact while connecting them to others with whom they can partner to accomplish more than they could alone.

‘EFN is a community of allies, with resources. Our participation in various aspects has deepened our knowledge, which in turn has informed our grant making choices. The community has also enabled new collaborative work, which in turn is creating new possibilities for impact.’ - EFN member

In 2023, this strand of work involved the following activities:

Events for funders : 40 online sessions plus several in-person meetings, visits and field trips. Top-attended events included:

Two-day annual retreat at Hinxton Hall in Cambridgeshire
In-person networking lunches focused on political advocacy, toxic chemicals and marine conservation
Edinburgh networking event celebrating and cultivating environmental philanthropy in Scotland
Quarterly Climate Funders Group meetings (online and in-person)
Meetings to update funders on UK policy developments, COP15 biodiversity and COP28 climate summits
Forests webinar series organised in partnership with several EFN members who support forests-related work

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A nnual two-day retreat for funders : this provides funders of all kinds – trustees, individual donors, staff – with a chance to get outside of their daily lives and develop new perspectives on their funding. We organise a mix of sessions to provide a stronger intellectual understanding of what environmental philanthropy could accomplish while also giving attendees a chance to get outside and take part in activities that lift them out of the day-to-day. By connecting with nature – which humans are and have always been a part of – we hope to open up a different way of approaching the challenge of addressing environmental issues.

Philanthropy Lab : In partnership with the Bio-Leadership Project, we set up the Philanthropy Lab to foster new ways of working that support more collaborative and systemic approaches to philanthropy, with the goal of creating ‘economies in service to life’. Six trusts and three individual donors participated in the first two phases of the Lab. Together, they developed three work streams on rights of nature, tax justice and nature, and regenerative investment. The Lab continues to welcome new funders to join existing work streams or start new ones.

‘The Lab has given me the bandwidth to think very differently about our work. How can we work more 'upstream'? It's definitely informing the implementation of our organisation’s strategy.’ - EFN member

Climate Funders Group: Co-coordinated with EFN members Tessa Durham of Gower Street and Greg Hilditch of Global Greengrants Fund UK, this group meets quarterly to help funders embrace more effective climate philanthropy in the UK and to learn about what others are doing globally to support action on the climate crisis. In 2023, we heard from a range of insightful speakers about different topics, such as strategic communications, public mobilisation, and phasing out oil and gas.

‘I attend the Climate Funders Group meetings because I value being in a ‘room’ with a group of like-minded individuals hearing from a thoughtful line-up of climate focussed organisations. It helps me understand the space better: what’s going on, who’s doing what. Crucially, I get a great deal from the chat and the questions that are asked. We could meet these organisations individually but it would be nowhere near as useful because hearing the perspectives and questions of the other funders on the call is so valuable. Grant-giving can be lonely – the CFG makes me feel part of a community.’ - EFN member

Research : In 2023, we started gathering data for Where the Green Grants Went 9 , which will be the latest in our series of research analysing the distribution of environmental grants and funding from UK trusts and foundations. It will be published in early summer 2024 and will reflect on ways that environmental philanthropy could be deployed more effectively.

We also started gathering funders’ data through our Members Directory , which has around 70 entries in the funders-only directory (40 entries for the public version). We encourage funders as far as possible to submit their information and be part of improving the efficacy of fundraising. Going forward, we are exploring options for developing a dedicated online platform for the Members Directory to make it much easier to share, manage and access information.

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‘Joining EFN led us to a ready-made network of experts in the sector. This accelerated out learning. Without this our progress would have been much slower.’ – EFN member

‘EFN is uniquely placed to help funders and grantees navigate environmental philanthropy and is playing a pivotal role in improving, increasing and expanding funds that are spent. This is a key reason for why we contribute to the network – we want to grow the (underfunded) pie for climate and environment giving, whilst supporting the ecosystem to thrive. And, of course, we also benefit hugely from the learning and networking opportunities that EFN provides.’ – EFN member

Workstream Three: Supporting those that do environmental work to be more effective

This strand of our work focuses on supporting the environment sector to become more effective. We have three main objectives, focused on funding, communication and connectivity. Our ambition is to support an interconnected, resilient and impactful sector with a broad reach and sufficient funding.

Towards this aim, we host a popular ‘Green Fundraisers Forum’, provide a mechanism for environmental organisations to access urgent funding (our Rapid Response Fund), and are developing ideas to run a large-scale media appeal and map who is doing what in the UK environment sector.

In 2023, this strand of work involved the following activities:

Wealth Advisor Research: In our sector collaboration workshop in 2022, fundraisers from across the sector expressed a desire to explore the potential of wealth advisors to catalyse the philanthropic fundraising efforts of environmental groups. We have since interviewed 60 advisors and high-net-worth-individuals, the findings from which will be published in 2024. We are planning a series of events with wealth advisors in London and Edinburgh to disseminate the findings.

Spotlighting Underfunded Issues: EFN’s research has shown that several vital issues are chronically under-funded in the sector, which we refer to as ‘Cinderella’ issues. We have begun spotlighting projects focusing on these topics to our network of donors, to raise awareness and encourage more funding toward these areas.

‘Thanks for the work you're doing to direct funding to high-impact and often neglected environmental work, and to support us fundraisers in the sector – it's so appreciated.’

Climate Activist Speaker Fund (CASF): The pilot phase of this programme continued to facilitate the support of individual climate activists by philanthropic funders in 2023, drawing to a close in December, with a second phase planned for 2024-2025. With support from six funders, the CASF provided 10 young climate activists with:

£4,000 each to provide compensation for their speaking and messaging work as well as access to desired platforms.

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12 hours of formal training and support, including climate communications, overcoming imposter syndrome, and individual coaching sessions.
A community to network, exchange, and learn from peer activists.

Rapid Response Fund (RRF): We continued to facilitate this initiative, which provides a mechanism for funders to provide funds to groups trying to seize unexpected opportunities or respond to unanticipated crises. Participating funders provided £264,635 in funding to 22 proposals in 2023, a 16% increase compared to 2022. Amongst other initiatives, the funders were able to support:

Power for People to amend the Government’s Energy Bill to include the Local Electricity Bill, which will enable community groups to set up local renewable energy schemes to sell clean power locally
Fern to protect forests through mandatory paper reductions in the EU Packaging Directive
Greenpeace to commission a report from independent economists Cambridge Econometrics to provide an analysis on upgrading the energy grid for net zero

‘I find the RRF a good way to mobilise my own personal money quickly and effectively.’

‘Your RRF allows us to be introduced to policy-related work that can strengthen our likely impact, and promote that strand within our grant-making.’

Strengthening digital skills : We worked with Lightful to deliver their digital skills training programme for charities and non-profits to 30 environmental organisations. In the coming year we will be organising training on this topic for our Green Fundraiser Forum members.

Inter-Narratives : we (re)launched this initiative, a community for people who work on, or are curious about, narrative change and the role it plays in system change. Building on the work of its predecessor, Reset Narratives, Inter-Narratives was launched in May 2023 by Ella Saltmarshe and Paddy Loughman. Every month Inter-Narratives runs either a public or community event. The public events are led by an expert curator and speakers, covering different issues areas, such as fighting disinformation and fake news and narrative strategies. Community sessions give our community of practitioners a space to share and discuss work. The Inter-Narratives newsletter shares narrative insights and examples of effective narrative-change work with nearly 800 subscribers from a range of sectors.

About Inter-Narratives: ‘[a] space where the breaking edge of interdisciplinary storytelling can meet in order to make meaning of these times of great change.’ - Inter-Narratives community member

Green Fundraisers Forum (GFF): This forum now includes over 800 subscribers to its mailing list, over 400 of whom are also part of our active GFF Slack workspace. The GFF enables people working within a wide range of environmental groups to connect and share, fostering a culture of collaboration and providing opportunities – often facilitated by us – for learning, discussion, and relationship building.

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‘As someone recently joining the environmental funding sector, I've found the knowledge, networks, and experience of the GFF invaluable. The Slack channel is a 'go to' place for me when I want to connect, ask questions, and find answers. The newsletter is always informative, ensuring we're up to date with opportunities, and the bimonthly meetings are a great place to network and share experiences. Thank you!’ - GFF member

Sustainable Wellbeing Environment Network : We embarked on new research into challenges faced by environmental fundraisers and through our participation in this network, and worked to increase awareness of burnout in the sector and what can be done about it. This topic was one of the focal points of this year’s GFF Away Day.

Mapping the Sector: Funders and fundraisers alike often comment on how difficult it is to understand the UK environment sector as a whole –- who is doing what and where. This lack of clarity can give rise to a great deal of wheel reinvention and duplication which arguably we have neither the time nor the resources for. We have begun exploring methods of mapping the sector, with the ambition of creating an online tool to visualise the different organisations and the links between them. As a first step, we have started mapping those working on sustainable transport.

Monitoring our impact

As the above text indicates, we track our impact with a mixture of quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data (tracked through our Where the Green Grants Went series, as well as our monitoring of our activities) helps us see how much grant funding to environmental issues is increasing, how many funders we are supporting to give more effectively, and how many people and organisations working on environmental issues we are supporting with convening and resources. Alongside those numbers, we get clear insights into the difference we are making through written and oral feedback from our members about the value we add to the ecosystem of environmental actors in the UK.

We know from the latest Where the Green Grants Went data (to be published in 2024) that grant giving has risen significantly in recent years, and we are proud to have played a part in that. In addition, our feedback from members suggests we are highly valued in terms of the support we provide funders to improve the effectiveness of their giving, though we can see that there are plenty of ways in which funder effectiveness might continue to improve – and likewise that there is considerable room in the system for more funding for environmental causes.

Organisational development

We welcomed two new staff members in 2023. Tara Cooper joined us as Communications Manager in November and Sophia Cooke as Sector Programme Lead (maternity cover) in October. As an office-less team we continue to invest in time spent together, including two days spent in Norfolk concentrating on developing our work plans for the year ahead and looking at visioning the future for EFN.

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Nick Addington joined us as a trustee in June 2024. As Chief Executive of the William Grant Foundation he brings valuable experience to the Board including knowledge of the funding landscape in Scotland. The trustee and staff team worked together at an Away Day in London in November to reflect on our work (in our three work pillars) in 2023 and looking ahead to 2024. This work helped inform the annual update to the EFN Strategy.

We developed an Environmental Policy during 2023 which sets out our commitment to minimising the negative environmental impacts of our operations and supporting staff to adopt sustainable practices at work. It recognises that the biggest impact EFN can make is through its work – working with our members to engage people to understand why we need to act and supporting them to take action to bring about the changes we need. The policy includes using a banking provider which has strong ethical standards including around fossil fuel investment. Our main provider is now Cooperative Bank, and we closed our previous account with HSBC during 2023, sharing our reasons with our membership and creating a campaign which also highlighted the work others are doing in this area.

EFN is committed to the principles of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI), recognising their inherent value and necessity, including for effective environmental work. We reflect on and revise how we operate and design our programmes in this context as a matter of ongoing work.

What we did in 2023:

Provided a platform (blog and events) to those most affected by the environmental crisis to share their experiences
Highlighted organisations doing important JEDI work in our monthly newsletters
Changed processes for our Rapid Response Fund to better serve most-affected groups
Developed the Climate Activist Speaker Fund based on JEDI principles
Contributed to, and promoted, the RACE Report, a project driving progress on diversity and inclusion in the environment sector
Worked to foster an inclusive staff culture, where everyone feels they can be themselves at work – including creating relevant policies (for example on microaggressions) and initiating a staff wellbeing survey
Employed recruitment processes that reduce bias

FUTURE PLANS

Our strategy for 2023-2026, including our work plan for 2024, is published on our website here.

With a Communications Manager now in place for the first time, we have ambitious plans to improve and enhance all of EFN’s external and digital communications. We will:

Develop a new, creative, and engaging visual identity that better tells the story of EFN and our work.

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Redesign and build a new website with a focus on creating an outstanding user experience and showing the wide range of work and activities EFN does.
Create and share regular digital content that better serves the needs of EFN and our audiences.

This investment in communications will underpin many of the activities detailed below and enable staff members to better engage with audiences and fulfil our mission.

We will do the following under each workstream:

Expanding Environmental Philanthropy

Organise events to engage with specific new audiences (for example those working in finance) and support them to start to give (or give more) to environmental causes. We will improve our follow up after events, offering 1:1 meetings with EFN staff, Advisory Group members and partner organisations.
In 2024, we aim to double the £4.3m raised in 2023 by the Big Give Green Match Fund, and start working towards scaling the campaign drastically in future years, culminating with a ‘Children in Need’-style live annual event. Big Give are working with Shape History, a digital agency, to do a feasibility and scoping study on this level of campaign.
Publish our research report into the provision of environmental philanthropy advice in the UK and use it to engage with philanthropy and wealth advisors. We will host at least one multilateral meeting to share the findings of our research with them and discuss how EFN can help them to meet the needs of their clients (including Next Gens) better.
Pilot our Environmental Impact Investing Group (EIIG), using it to engage with and support individuals and foundations who are interested in impact investing, even if they have not yet considered environmental philanthropy.
Secure targeted articles in the media to highlight the value of environmental philanthropy and the need for much more of it.

Improving the Effectiveness of Environmental Philanthropy

Publish and disseminate the findings of our Where the Green Grants Went 9 report to help funders understand the funding landscape and engage funders in discussion of what effective environmental philanthropy entails.
Provide opportunities for funders to hear from the sector on positive/negative funding experiences and highlight elements of good practice grantmaking, as described in our Theory of Change.
Work with funders and others to create new opportunities for environmental giving in Scotland, such as a nascent fund for grassroots ecological restoration initiated by an EFN member.
Develop the next What the Green Groups Said survey for dissemination in 2025.
Support up to five champions from within the network, each interested in working to ensure more ambitious, collective impact among funders on a particular issue or geography in the UK and abroad.

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Supporting those that do environmental work to be more effective

Wrap up our research into opportunities and barriers for wealth advisors to work with the sector and increase philanthropic environmental giving. We will continue hosting networking events for advisors in England and Scotland.
Organise and form an environmental fundraisers’ working group on Fundraising Challenges that aims to identify the most pressing funding challenges within the sector and their causes, possible solutions and their implementation with emphasis on efficiency in grant application processes for both funders and grantees. Publicly share findings to enhance understanding of these issues, encourage best practice among funders and foster constructive dialogue between fundraisers and funders.
Explore potential methods to create a living, interactive map of the UK environment sector (making it easier to understand who is doing what, where and how), beginning with a subset e.g. GFF members working on particular topics.

Governance and Organisational Development

We plan to recruit up to two new trustees in 2024 as long-standing member of the board, Sian Ferguson, steps down. We have looked at what skills and experience will best complement the existing trustees, and have advertised the opportunity to our members.

As the organisation has grown, we are continually monitoring the effectiveness of the current organisational structure, balancing the needs of efficient line-management structures with a staff team that is largely working part-time, with limited capacity for line-management responsibilities. EFN has grown gracefully to date, and a focus on a healthy organisational culture has allowed for highly productive working relationships to emerge.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Income

EFN's income is mainly a mixture of grants, and voluntary membership contributions (following a sliding scale based on how much each member gives out in environmental grants themselves over an annual period). We also receive income for fees towards the cost of our annual members’ retreat/conference, for some of our workshops and for coordinating the Environmental Finance & Learning Fund.

The income received from membership contributions in 2023 rose by 20% to £337,608 (2022: £280,462). The number of contributing members rose from 99 to 110 year on year, and the increase in income is due to both this increase in number of members and the welcome increase in amounts contributed especially by some larger

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members of the network. Together with grants, donations and fee income, the total unrestricted fund income in 2023 rose to £511,823 (2022: £417,639), a 23% increase.

Restricted fund income also rose in 2023 to £202,570 (from £124,000 in 2022). This income includes grants and membership donations which are restricted to be spent on our core work. This restricted core funding was similar year on year (£96,000 in 2023 and £101,000 in 2022), and the overall increase in restricted income from 2022 to 2023 is due to an increase in project related grants. In particular, we have received grant funding for the InterNarratives project, the Climate Activist Speaker Fund and the Environmental Impact Investing Group work in 2023.

The total income for 2023 was £714,393 (2022: £541,639).

Expenditure

Direct expenditure on our charitable activities increased from £462,503 in 2022 to £608,338 in 2023 partly due to the extra expenditure associated with the new projects mentioned above. The proportion spent on our support costs has fallen year on year from 17% in 2022 to 14% in 2023. We also increased our staff team in late 2023 - Tara joined EFN as Communications Manager in November. EFN is fortunate to be a team working around the UK from home offices, and office costs are minimal.

Detail on our spending is given in note 4 to the accounts. Total expenditure was £621,250 (2022: £473,596).

Reserves

The net movement in funds for 2023 was £93,143, and the total reserves were £569,292 on 31 December 2023 (2022: £476,149).

£176,325 (2022: £248,770) of the reserves were designated for specific work, and a further £57,203 (2022: £9,874) were restricted funds, leaving a balance of £335,764 (2022: £217,505) in general funds.

Detail of the designated and restricted funds is shown in note 12 to the accounts which includes a description of each fund, and the purpose for which it is held. It is planned to use £71,628 of the total designated funds set aside on activity in 2024, and the balance of £104,697, will be spent mainly in 2025, but also partly in 2026 as EFN scales up its fundraising to invest in its programmes and to deliver its ambitious strategy.

Risk management and reserves policy

We maintain a risk register with risks, ratings, mitigations and monitoring listed. Key risks are monitored regularly by the Director, and by the Finance & General Purposes (F&GP) subcommittee of the Board. The full risk register is reviewed at least annually by both the F&GP Committee and the full Board of trustees.

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We see the most significant risks currently facing EFN as:

Risk	Mitigation
Loss of a key member of staff – the potential loss of expertise and networks to EFN would be hard to replace	EFN has a small and very welcoming team. Staff have a good level of support from trustees. There is a Pay Review Policy which sets out how pay rises are calculated and ensures EFN continues to offer market rates of pay. Systems for tracking contacts are improving (Salesforce) and there are plans for further improvements (for example a database of member organisations/individuals on our website, which will help capture information that is known by key staff but not currently recorded anywhere). We have developed an effective recruitment process for replacing staff who leave (/go on maternity leave) with excellent replacements.
Managing sustainable growth so that our team are not over stretched by the increasing demands of the programme and our growing membership	The trustees and management consider this on an ongoing basis in terms of planning the strategy for the future. Line managers are supportive, and aware of the potential effects of these demands on the wellbeing of the staff team. The annual strategy development process includes a priority- setting exercise which provides an opportunity for ensuring the staff are not overloaded.
The current economic volatility (especially inflationary pressure) impacts the staff team and increases the EFN organisational costs	The Pay Review policy takes account of inflation indices (CPIH and AWE) in the annual cost of living review. Working from home (WFH) payments are reviewed annually (and take account of rises in home energy costs). Organisational budgets take account of likely inflation rates, and the 4-year budget is updated annually, and is used to plan out funding needed to cover costs well in advance.

A key element in the management of financial risk is the setting of a reserves policy and its regular review by trustees.

EFN holds reserves to enable it to:

● meet its contractual obligations (including the completion of projects and committed administrative costs).

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designate funds for future expenditure on work to achieve its goals.
retain a sufficient margin of funds to meet the cost of unforeseen events.

The general fund balance on 31 December 2023 was £335,764, and the free reserves (those unrestricted reserves not designated for specific purpose or invested in fixed assets) stood at £334,967.

The target free reserves for the year ahead are £280,953 and represent the equivalent of six months of core operational expenditure (staff costs, staff expenses and overheads) plus redundancy liabilities, and the costs of winding up the organisation. We plan to use £36,000 of our general fund reserves on our work in 2024 so our reserves going into 2025 will be around £300,000 at which point our target free reserves will have risen to £298,601 meaning at the end of 2024 our reserves will be at the target level.

Free reserves are reviewed by the trustees at all Board meetings, and the trustees are happy that the current levels are in line with the targets. The reserves policy is reviewed annually as part of the organisational strategic planning and budgeting process for the years ahead.

Fundraising

Our fundraising activity concentrates on developing our relationship with our members, and funding applications to trusts, foundations and other funders. We understand our duty to protect the public, including vulnerable people, from unreasonably intrusive or persistent fundraising approaches, and undue pressure to donate. Our specific and targeted forms of fundraising mean that we avoid these approaches, and we do not use any thirdparty fundraisers to act on our behalf. We have received no complaints about fundraising activity in the years ended 31 December 2023 and 31 December 2022.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Governing document

Environmental Funders Network is constituted as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) and is registered as a charity in England & Wales (number 1181318) and in Scotland (number SC050579).

Recruitment and appointment of new trustees

The trustees elect new trustees, as vacancies arise, considering the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the effective administration of EFN, and clearly setting out the terms of engagement and the essential tasks of the Board. Our recruitment places an emphasis on the diversity of applicants (looking for diversity in terms of ethnic, racial, and socio-economic backgrounds, sexual orientations and gender identities, disabilities, adults of all ages, and people

Environmental Funders Network

with a broad variety of views and perspectives), recognising that EFN’s work will be strengthened by a board of trustees who bring a variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives to bear on our work.

EFN's trustees must be appointed for a term of three years by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees. In selecting individuals for appointment as charity trustees, the charity trustees must have regard to the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the effective administration of the CIO. The charity trustees may from time to time co-opt people to serve as additional charity trustees, provided that a person who has been co-opted must retire after having served for a term of one year but shall then be eligible for reappointment for a further term of one year and then for a further term of three years.

Any person retiring as a charity trustee is eligible for reappointment, save that a charity trustee who has served for six consecutive years may only be reappointed for one year at a time.

Trustee induction and training

All potential new trustees are given the opportunity to meet the Chair of trustees, and the Director prior to their appointment. On formal appointment they receive a copy of the constitution, the latest annual report and accounts, the Board terms of reference, all relevant policies, and Charity Commission guidance.

All trustees are invited to attend an annual Away Day for staff and trustees, and an annual retreat for funders. They are also expected to attend some events each year to get a sense of the offerings of the network. Trustees are also offered training.

Sub Committees

There are two subcommittees, both of which consist of at least three members of the Board, and have terms of reference which have been approved by the Board:

Finance & General Purpose (F&GP) committee which is responsible for overseeing our finances as well as our staffing and internal policies and procedures.
Programme committee which considers the development, implementation, and evaluation of EFN’s event programming for its members.

Key management personnel

The key management personnel of the charity comprise the trustees and the Director. The Director is appointed by the trustees and manages the charity. They act with delegated authority for all operational matters. All trustees give of their time freely, and no trustee received remuneration in the year. Details of trustees’ expenses and related party transactions are disclosed in notes 6 and 14 to the accounts. As with other roles in the organisation, the Director’s salary range is benchmarked against other posts in comparable sector organisations by an external

Environmental Funders Network

organisation and reviewed annually by the Finance & General Purposes subcommittee of the Board of Trustees as part of the organisational cost of living pay review, and the annual development review processes.

Related parties and cooperation with other organisations

Declaration of interests is a standing item on trustee meeting agendas and any contractual relationship and/or connection between a trustee with any related party is disclosed to the full board of trustees.

As a network organisation, cooperation with other organisations is a key part of our work at EFN, and we take that role extremely seriously, endeavouring to provide support to the full spectrum of organisations, from small to large and to network them with one another.

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Registered charity numbers	1181318 (England & Wales), SC050579 (Scotland)	1181318 (England & Wales), SC050579 (Scotland)
Principal address	48 High Street, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, HP18 9AF
Trustees	Catherine Bryan (Chair)
	Nicholas Addington	Appointed 20 June 2023
	Sian Ferguson	Resigned 1 July 2024
	Hugh Mehta
	Champa Patel
	Elizabeth Gadd
	Fiona Napier
	Eva Rehse
Key management personnel	Florence Miller	Director
Auditors	BSN Associates Limited	3B Swallowfield Courtyard,
		Wolverhampton Road, Oldbury,
		West Midlands, B69 2JG
Bankers	The Co-operative Bank	PO Box 101, 1 Balloon Street,
		Manchester, M60 4EP

Environmental Funders Network

TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES STATEMENT

The trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

The law applicable to charities in England and Wales and in Scotland, requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. The trustees have to prepare the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law), including FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland. The trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP (FRS 102);
make judgments and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business.

The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charity’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 and the provisions of the trust deed. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Approved by order of the board of trustees on 1 July 2024 and signed on its behalf by:

Catherine Bryan Trustee

Environmental Funders Network

Independent Auditor's Report to the Trustees of The Environmental Funders Network

Year ended 31 December 2023

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of The Environmental Funders Network (the 'charity') for the year ended 31 December 2023 which comprise the statement of financial activities, statement of financial position, statement of cashflows and the related notes, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

This report is made solely to the charity's members, as a body, in accordance with section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and regulations made under section 154 of that Act. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charity's members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity and the charity's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed. In our opinion the financial statements:

give a true and fair view of the state of the charity's affairs as at 31 December 2023 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for the year then ended;
have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice;
have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 and The Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and regulation 8 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006.

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charity's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Environmental Funders Network

Independent Auditor's Report to the Trustees of The Environmental Funders Network

(continued)

Year ended 31 December 2023

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charity and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the trustees' report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

the information given in the trustees' report is inconsistent in any material respect with the financial statements; or
certain disclosures of Trustee remuneration specified by law are not made; or
sufficient and proper accounting records have not been kept; or
the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the trustees' responsibilities statement, the trustees are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charity's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charity or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Environmental Funders Network

Independent Auditor's Report to the Trustees of The Environmental Funders Network (continued)

Year ended 31 December 2023

Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed as auditors under Section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and Section 44(1)(c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and report in accordance with the Acts and relevant regulations made or having effect thereunder.

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

Irregularities that result from fraud might be inherently more difficult than irregularities that result from error, which gives risk to a risk of material misstatement. We are of the opinion that the planned audit approach, the documentation and interrogation of the charity's controls means that the audit procedures carried out were capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud. We have also reviewed financial statement disclosures and tested these to supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations. We have audited the risk of management override of controls, including through testing journal entries and other adjustments for appropriateness, and evaluating the business rationale of significant transactions outside the normal course of business. We have also made enquiries of entity staff in compliance functions to identify any instances of noncompliance with laws and regulations and have reviewed correspondence with regulatory bodies as part of our audit procedures.

As part of an audit in accordance with ISAs (UK), we exercise professional judgment and maintain professional scepticism throughout the audit. We also:

Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control.
Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the internal control.
Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates and related disclosures made by the trustees.

Environmental Funders Network

Independent Auditor's Report to the Trustees of The Environmental Funders Network (continued)

Year ended 31 December 2023

Conclude on the appropriateness of the trustees' use of the going concern basis of accounting and, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the charity's ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in our auditor’s report to the related disclosures in the financial statements or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our auditor’s report. However, future events or conditions may cause the charity to cease to continue as a going concern.
Evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the financial statements, including the disclosures, and whether the financial statements represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that achieves fair presentation.

We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charity's trustees, as a body, in accordance with part 4 of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and Regulation 10 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charity's trustees those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity and the charity's trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

BSN Associates Limited Chartered accountants & statutory auditor 3B Swallowfield Courtyard Wolverhampton Road Oldbury West Midlands B69 2JG

1 July 2024

Environmental Funders Network

Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 December 2023

Note Income Grants and donations 2 Income from charitable activities 3 Total income Expenditure Expenditure on raising funds 4 Expenditure on charitable activities 4 Total expenditure Net income/(expenditure) Reconciliation of funds Fund balances brought forward Fund balances carried forward	Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds Total Funds Total Funds 2023 2023 2023 2022 £ £ £ £ 384,108 202,570 586,678 471,694 127,715 - 127,715 69,945
	511,823 202,570 714,393 541,639
	12,912 - 12,912 11,093 453,097 155,241 608,338 462,503
	466,009 155,241 621,250 473,596
	45,814 47,329 93,143 68,043 466,275 9,874 476,149 408,106
	512,089 57,203 569,292 476,149

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses for the period from 1 January to 31 December 2023. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.

The notes on pages 26 to 33 form part of these financial statements.

Environmental Funders Network

Balance Sheet as at 31 December 2023

Note Fixed assets Tangible assets 9 Current assets Debtors 10 Cash at bank Liabilities Creditors falling due within one year 11 Net current assets Total assets less current liabilities Net assets Funds Unrestricted General 12 Designated 12 Restricted 12 Total funds	2023 2022 £ £
	797 357
	25,202 37,213 609,454 466,806
	634,656 504,019 (66,161) (28,227)
	568,495 475,792
	569,292 476,149
	569,292 476,149
	335,764 217,505 176,325 248,770
	512,089 466,275 57,203 9,874
	569,292 476,149

The notes on pages 26 to 33 form part of these financial statements.

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees on 1 July 2024, and were signed on its behalf by:

Catherine Bryan, Trustee

Environmental Funders Network

Statement of Cash Flows for the year ended 31 December 2023

Cash flows from operating activities Cash flows from investing activities Purchase of fixed assets Cash used in investing activities Increase in cash and cash equivalents in the period Cash and cash equivalents at the start of the period Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period	2023 2022 £ £
	143,711 29,381
	(1,063) -
	(1,063) -

	142,648 29,381
	466,806 437,425
	609,454 466,806

Reconciliation of net movement in funds to net cash flows from operating activities

Net movement in funds Add back depreciation charge Decrease/(increase) in debtors Increase/(decrease) in creditors Net cash flows from operating activities	2023 2022 £ £ 93,143 68,043 623 666 12,011 (27,063) 37,934 (12,265)
	143,711 29,381

Environmental Funders Network

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2023

1. Accounting policies

General information

Environmental Funders Network is constituted as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) and is registered as a charity in England & Wales (number 1181318) and in Scotland (number SC050579).

Basis of preparing the financial statements

The financial statements of the charity, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102, have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) 'Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019)', Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' and the Charities Act 2011. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

Going concern

There are no material uncertainties about the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern.

Income

All income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities once the charity has entitlement to the funds, it is probable that the income will be received, and the amount can be measured reliably.

Expenditure

Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings, they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

Tangible fixed assets

Individual fixed assets costing over £1,000 are capitalised at cost, and are depreciated over their useful economic lives as follows:

Computer equipment - 25% on cost

Taxation

The charity is exempt from tax on its charitable activities.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees. Designated funds are unrestricted funds of the charity which the trustees have decided at their discretion to set aside for a particular purpose.

Environmental Funders Network

Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.

Pension costs

The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme. Contributions payable to the charity's pension scheme are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the period to which they relate. They are split between projects in line with salaries.

Support costs allocation

Direct costs attributable to a single activity are allocated directly to that activity. Shared costs which contribute directly to more than one activity are apportioned between those activities according to their use or time spent on each.

Judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty

The preparation of financial statements requires management to make judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported. These estimates and judgements are continually reviewed, and are based on experience and other factors, including expectations of future events, that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances.

2. Grants and donations

Trust and foundation grants Membership contributions Other donations Total grants and donations	Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Total Total 2023 2022 2023 2022 2023 2022 £ £ £ £ £ £ Restated Restated 61,500 167,500 187,570 109,000 249,070 176,500 322,608 265,462 15,000 15,000 337,608 280,462 - 14,732 - - - 14,732
	384,108 347,694 202,570 124,000 586,678 471,694

The 2022 figures above have been restated to reclassify grants totalling £101,000 received towards core costs as restricted income.

3. Income from charitable activities

Retreat, event and workshop fees Other Total income from charitable activities	Total Total 2023 2022 £ £ 104,406 51,941 23,309 18,004
	127,715 69,945

Environmental Funders Network

4. Expenditure

xpenditure
Research costs: Where the Green Grants Went What the Green Groups Said Other research Expanding Environmental Philanthropy Strengthening the Network Strengthening the Sector EFN Scotland Raising funds Staff travel & home office costs Administration costs Staffing support costs Governance & legal costs Allocation of support costs Total	Charitable activities Raising funds Support costs Total Total 2023 2023 2023 2023 2022 £ £ £ £ £ 38,525 38,525 7,957 - - 27,628 7,000 7,000 10,000 102,154 102,154 72,936 213,927 213,927 152,449 125,033 125,033 84,385 34,277 34,277 29,187 10,589 10,589 8,358 12,438 12,438 7,755 23,033 23,033 18,971 35,811 35,811 30,403 18,463 18,463 23,567
	520,916 10,589 89,745 621,250 473,596 87,422 2,323 (89,745) - -
	608,338 12,912 - 621,250 473,596

The charity identifies governance and other support costs, and apportions them to direct charitable activity, and raising funds on the basis of staff time.

*Prior period comparatives* Research costs: Where the Green Grants Went What the Green Groups Said Other research Expanding Environmental Philanthropy Strengthening the Network Strengthening the Sector EFN Scotland Raising funds Staff travel & subsistence Administration costs Staffing support costs Governance & legal costs Allocation of support costs *Total*	*Charitable* *activities* *Raising* *funds* *Support* *costs* *Total* *2022* *2022* *2022* *2022* £ £ £ £ 7,957 7,957 27,628 27,628 10,000 10,000 72,936 72,936 152,449 152,449 84,385 84,385 29,187 29,187 8,358 8,358 7,755 7,755 18,971 18,971 30,403 30,403 23,567 23,567
	384,542 8,358 80,696 473,596 77,961 2,735 (80,696) -
	462,503 11,093 - 473,596

Environmental Funders Network

5. Net income/(expenditure)

This is stated after charging:

	Total	Total
	2023	2022
	£	£
Depreciation of tangible fixed assets	623	666
Audit fees	6,120	5,832

6. Analysis of staff costs, trustee remuneration and expenses, and the cost of key management personnel

Salaries and wages Social security costs Pension costs	Total 2023 Total 2022 £ £ 291,474 245,976 25,977 21,205 20,768 17,193
	338,219 284,374

One employee earned over £60,000 during the year (2022: one).

The average number of FTE staff per month was 6.2 (2022: 5.6), and the average headcount per month was 8.2 (2022: 7.7).

The key management personnel of the charity comprise the trustees and the Director. The total employee benefits of the key management personnel were £74,036 (2022: £64,445).

The charity trustees received no remuneration during the year (2022: nil)

Two (2022: three) trustees were reimbursed travel expenses during the year totalling £586 (2022: £665). Trustees are encouraged to have their travel expenses reimbursed.

Environmental Funders Network

7. Pension costs

The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme. The scheme and its assets are held by independent managers. The pension charge represents contributions due from the charity and amounted to £20,674 (2022: £17,193).

8. Corporation taxation

The charity is exempt from tax on income and gains falling within section 505 of the Taxes Act 1988 or section 252 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 to the extent that these are applied to its charitable objects.

9. Tangible fixed assets

Cost: At 1 January 2023 Additions Disposals At 31 December 2023 Depreciation: At 1 January 2023 Disposals Charge for the year At 31 December 2023 Net book value: At 1 January 2023 At 31 December 2023	Computer Equipment £ 2,663 1,063 (1,149)
	2,577
	2,306 (1,149) 623
	1,780
	357
	797

Environmental Funders Network

10. Debtors

Trade debtors Prepayments and accrued income Creditors Trade creditors Accruals and deferred income Other creditors	Total 2023 Total 2022 £ £ 17,845 34,315 7,357 2,898
	25,202 37,213
	Total 2023 Total 2022 £ £ 4,991 1,847 58,462 24,137 2,708 2,243
	66,161 28,227

11. Creditors

12. Analysis of charitable funds

Analysis of unrestricted funds

General funds Designated funds Expanding environmental philanthropy ‘Where the Green Grants Went’ & ‘What the Green Groups Said’ Supporting sector fundraising Experimenting for impact Programme fund Total unrestricted funds	Funds Income Expenditur e Transfers Funds 1 Jan 23 31 Dec 23 £ £ £ £ £ 217,505 511,823 (393,564) - 335,764 39,000 - (5,133) - 33,867 14,726 - (14,726) 60,620 60,620 9,664 - - - 9,664 67,380 - (52,586) - 14,794 118,000 (60,620) 57,380
	466,275 511,823 (466,009) - 512,089

Environmental Funders Network

The general fund represents the unrestricted reserves after allowing for all designated funds.

The expanding environmental philanthropy fund is designated for media work raising the profile of environmental philanthropy, with the goal of inspiring and encouraging new donors to give to environmental causes.

‘Where the Green Grants Went’ & ‘What the Green Groups Said’ is for updates to these two studies which take the pulse of the UK's environment sector and paint a picture of its resources. The findings produce new insights into the environment sector and its needs.

Supporting sector fundraising is set aside for work with fundraisers from across the environment sector, providing access to resources and peer-to-peer networking, and developing collaboration opportunities identified by the sector.

The experimenting for impact fund is enabling us to explore new ideas to connect – it has funded the development stage of the Philanthropy Lab which is bringing funders together to experiment and collaborate towards a big ‘North Star’ goal. It will also help subsidise an experiential retreat for our members and continues to fund the cost of our Environment Sector Programme Lead who works on the NGO facing side of our work, fostering connections between NGOs and their funders.

The programme fund is designated for delivery of our programmatic strategy through to 2026 and particularly up to the end of 2024. Our ambitious strategy requires commitment to multi-year workstreams and an ability to be responsive and flexible. This designated fund will contribute to this across all three pillars of our work, although additional, planned fundraising will be required for full implementation of our strategy.

Analysis of restricted funds

Restricted funds Core work EFN Scotland Inter-Narratives Environmental Impact Investing Group (EIIG) Climate Activist Speaker Fund Professional development Total restricted funds	Funds Income Expenditure Funds 1 Jan 23 31 Dec 23 £ £ £ £ - 96,000 (96,000) - 9,874 25,150 (15,715) 19,309 - 39,125 (26,769) 12,356 - 30,000 (14,462) 15,538 - 10,000 - 10,000 - 2,295 (2,295) -
	9,874 202,570 (155,241) 57,203

Core work is restricted funding received for the core costs of the organisation.

Environmental Funders Network

EFN Scotland is funding specifically to support the work of our Scotland Coordinator to grow and develop environmental philanthropy, fundraising and funding in Scotland.

Inter-Narratives is project funding which has established a community (of 120+ organisations) - people working on narrative change and the role it plays in systems change. We convene the community, curate sessions, and share and amplify narrative insights and work in our newsletter and publications.

Environmental Impact Investing Group (EIIG) is a 12-month pilot to support trusts, foundations and individuals who wish to learn more about environmental impact investing and develop their work in this area. It offers an online learning programme, in-person Market Information Days (MIDs) and a network to exchange ideas and learning.

The Climate Activist Speaker Fund is a pilot programme that is testing a new mechanism to support young climate activists to deliver their messages far and wide, funded by the philanthropic community, including those who may not otherwise be able to fund individuals. Ultimately it aims to magnify the impact activists and funders can have.

Professional development was funding received towards the cost of some leadership training.

13. Analysis of net assets between funds

Tangible fixed assets Cash at bank Other current assets/(liabilities) Total net assets	General fund Designated funds Restricted funds Total funds £ £ £ £ 797 - - 797 369,267 178,501 61,686 609,454 (34,300) (2,176) (4,483) (40,959)
	335,764 176,325 57,203 569,292

14. Related party transactions

There were no related party transactions during the year or in the preceding year.