**DHARMACHAKRA** 4 Warminster Road Registered Charity 294143 St Werburghs BRISTOL BS2 9UH UK info@freebuddhistaudio.com 

## **DHARMACHAKRA ANNUAL REPORT 2020** 

## **FINANCIAL REVIEW** 

Income for the period amounted to **£166,614** . 

This represents an increase of £34,153 against 2019 results, an increase of 26%. 

This is due to receiving £7,000 backlog of Gift Aid and greatly increased performance (see ‘Achievements and Performance’ section below). 

## **PRINCIPLE FUNDING SOURCES** 

Income includes **£86,000** in the form of grants over 12 months. 

During the previous year the figure was £75,000, so this represents a modest increase in grant income. 

As well as grants the principle funding for the charity was in the form of donations totalling **£67,228** . 

The equivalent figure for 2019 was £42,695. This represents a significant increase in donation income of around 57%. 

We also derived income from client work, including web hosting. In 2020 this was worth **£13,386** . 

The equivalent figure for 2019 was £14,080. This represents a fall of around 5%. 

*** 

Overall we were able to achieve a £ 28,000 positive cashflow in 2020 (compared to a £10,000 profit in the previous period). 

This is despite having to pay more grant to the USA side of the charity (which is where we incur a lot of our costs - chiefly payroll and also our Google Cloud Server), compared to 2019 levels, due to some increased general costs. 

Our USA side of the charity did perform well.  We had a turnover there of £23,000, mainly in donations.  This income total is similar to 2019, except that in 2019 over half the income was due to an exceptional receipt of $15,000 via a domain name sale.  In 2020, donations on our USA side more than doubled, for similar reasons to our UK operations as per ‘Achievements and Performance' section below. 



## **INVESTMENT POLICY** 

Any funds that are not immediately required are placed with CCLA Investment Management Ltd. At the end of the 2020 financial year this amounted to £59. We will be exploring a new investment strategy over the next year with regard to our significantly increased reserve (see below). 

## **RESERVES POLICY** 

The trustees have not previously held reserves for any lengthy period. However, in light of strong financial performance with significantly increased net cash flow ( **£28,000** ) and bank deposits ( **£48,400** ), the trustees have consolidated their intention to hold in future the recommended level of reserve for a charitable organization (there months’ worth of expenditure). The amount held at the end of the year allows this intention to move towards implementation as policy going forward. Reserves, and the investment of portions of the reserve, will be regularly reviewed by the trustees, together with a general review of the financial position of the charity. 

## **LOANS** 

There are no outstanding loans. 

## **OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES** 

The overall objective of Dharmachakra is the advancement of the Buddhist religion. In particular its aims are: 

- To encourage members and others to live in accordance with the teachings of the Buddha. 

`•` To publish literature and other material in furtherance of these aims. 

- To support members of the Triratna Buddhist Order and other duly ordained Buddhists at the discretion of the council of the charity. 

`•` In furtherance of the above purpose, but no further or otherwise, the charity shall maintain close communication with, and work under the guidance of, the Triratna Buddhist Order in cooperation with other groups with the same objects. 

To achieve these aims the charity archives, and makes available for free download, both text and audio files of Buddhist teachings. It also runs a web publishing platform and social media spaces to further support connections within our community. 

## **ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE 2020** 

This year, Dharmachakra’s project The Buddhist Centre online (www.thebuddhistcentre.com) was the main focus of new work. 

Like all businesses and charities, 2020 was a year of extraordinary challenge for Dharmachakra, at all levels. Our team and our online platform rose to these challenges in wonderful ways, as evidenced by very strong financial performance under pressure. 

Leveraging work done over years, we were able to quickly respond to the needs of our worldwide community during the Covid-19 pandemic by developing several key new sites and services. The public response to these was very positive, and we were able to 

2 



fundraise effectively against a raft of live events and online facilities designed to support people practicing Buddhism and meditation in their daily lives at a time of great difficulty. 

Specifically, the creation of the Dharma Toolkit platform – for live events, communityfocussed media, and shared web spaces – was a major achievement. Developed in just one month in March 2020, this has become a major focal point for a rich array of web services. We also hope it has helped exemplify for our wider community how online connection can substantively complement in-person contexts for learning and offering guidance to those looking to explore the Buddhist path. 

The needs of the situation and of the new platform meant we also urgently needed to grow our team. Fortunately, the generosity of our donors in response to our work meant this became possible in ways we had not predicted. We were able to take on several new team members on a part-time basis and sustain their employment throughout the year. As a charity that places a lot of emphasis on the ethical principles of Buddhist ‘Right Livelihood’ we are immensely grateful for the opportunity to offer meaningful work to others who feel connected to these same values. 

## **PLANS FOR THE FUTURE (2021)** 

Since the pandemic will be ongoing, and the landscape of our community’s presence online has changed in so many unforeseen ways, we envisage continuing and expanding our efforts with the Dharma Toolkit and our live events program. There will be challenges to this as the world gradually returns to ‘normal’ post-pandemic, but we feel there will also be strong opportunities to uphold the value of our online spaces as focal points for shared positive connection within our own community and beyond. 

We will also be beginning design and background implementation work on a complete overhaul of our sister site at Free Buddhist Audio. This site has long been a cornerstone of our fundraising strategy, and we’re excited to explore the possibilities for redeveloping it as a major part of what we offer online in future. 

The Buddhist Centre Online will continue its mobile redesign process, taking in a completely new menu system, further integration of all our sites and services within the platform (including everything new from 2020), and a new home page with deeper curation of content from around our community. 

Our server project will continue to support more experienced webmasters in developing their own websites and social web spaces – and help less experienced situations maintain a secure, virus-free online environment when it comes to their presence online. 

Financially, we will push on with our successful efforts to make Dharmachakra more financially independent in ways that would allows us to grow the team further and offer more value to our community and our funding partners. We look forward to another year of challenge and of _dana_ ( _Sanskrit: ‘generosity’)_ as the most effective response. 

## **TRUSTEES IN 2020** 

David Creighton (Chair), Madeleine Cadwallender (Secretary), Bettye Pruitt, Tim Holden, Sean Boland. 

3 



_Dharmachakra (UK) annual accounts to 31st December 2020_ 

## _Receipts and Payments Accounts_ 

## _January to December 2020_ 

||_£_|_£_|_£_|_£_|_£_|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||_FBA_|_TBC_|_Total_|_2019_|_change_|_NOTES_||
|_Donations_||||||||
|_PayPal_|_21,056_|_11,126_|_32,182_|_20,270_|11,912||1|
|_Standing Orders_|_13,026_||_13,026_|_12,827_|199|||
|_Events hosted_||_8,045_|_8,045_|_0_|8,045||2|
|_Institutional donations during covid-19_||_4,328_|_4,328_|_0_|4,328|||
|_Donation for FBA archiving project_|||_0_|_5,000_|-5,000|||
|_Other Donations_|_2,445_||_2,445_|_4,598_|-2,153||3|
|_Gift Aid Tax_|_7,202_||_7,202_|_0_|7,202||4|
||_43,729_|_23,499_|_67,228_|_42,695_|24,533|||
|_Other Income_||||||||
|_Domain Names_||_7,705_|_7,705_|_7,905_|-200|||
|_Interest_|_0_||_0_|_0_|0|||
|_Other_|||_0_|_686_|-686|||
||_0_|_7,705_|_7,705_|_8,591_|-886|||
|_Grants Received_||||||||
|_ECA_|||_0_|_13,500_|-13,500|||
|_Future Dharma Fund_||_61,000_|_61,000_|_46,500_|14,500|||
|_Order Office_||_15,000_|_15,000_|_10,000_|5,000|||
|_Uddiyana_||_10,000_|_10,000_|_5,000_|5,000|||
|_Windhorse_|||_0_|_0_|0|||
||_0_|_86,000_|_86,000_|_75,000_|11,000|||
|_Client Work_||||||||
|_LBC Development_||_1,800_|_1,800_|_2,425_|-625|||
|_Order Office_||_3,380_|_3,380_|_3,250_|130|||
|_Other(Sheffield Buddhist Centre)_||_500_|_500_|_500_|0|||
||_0_|_5,680_|_5,680_|_6,175_|-495|||
|_Total Income_|_43,729_|_122,885_|_166,614_|_132,461_|34,153|||
|_Administration_||||||||
|_Accounting_|_1,575_|_1,575_|_3,150_|_3,150_|0|||
|_Bank fees etc_|_1,081_|_910_|_1,991_|_1,343_|648||5|
|_Office & Postage_|_32_|_161_|_193_|_0_|193|||
||_2,688_|_2,646_|_5,335_|_4,493_|842|||
|_General Costs_||||||||
|_Computer & Software_|_15_|_719_|_734_|_476_|258|||
|_Domain Names (centre sites)_|_0_|_1,831_|_1,831_|_1,761_|70|||
|_Social Media Manager_|_0_|_20,218_|_20,218_|_22,600_|-2,382|||
|_Consultancy - contractors to help with events etc_|_523_|_13,804_|_14,328_|_0_|14,328||6|
|_Miscellaneous event costs_|_45_|_45_|_89_|_0_|89|||
|_Travel & subsistance (ECA Meetings)_|_0_|_30_|_30_|_2,386_|-2,356||6|
|_Travel (Other external Meetings)_|_185_|_185_|_370_|_3,832_|-3,462||6|
|_Travel to TBCO meetings_|_0_|_0_|_0_|_2,612_|-2,612||6|
||_768_|_36,832_|_37,601_|_33,667_|3,934|||
|_Website Costs_||||||||
|_Costs for FBA Archiving project_|_1,734_|_0_|_1,734_|_3,468_|-1,734|||
|_Website Management (secondary coding)_|_3,078_|_6,155_|_9,233_|_12,444_|-3,212|||
|_Web Development(primary coding)_|_7,675_|_30,629_|_38,304_|_34,011_|4,293|||
||_12,487_|_36,784_|_49,271_|_50,575_|-1,305|||
|_Total Expenditure_|_15,943_|_76,263_|_92,206_|_88,735_|3,471||6|
|_Cash Flow_|_27,786_|_46,622_|_74,408_|_43,726_|30,682|||
|_Grant Transfer_||||||||
|_Paid to US_|_-30,677_|_-15,339_|_-46,016_|_-33,744_|-12,272||7|
|_Adjusted Cash Flow_|_-2,891_|_31,284_|_28,393_|_9,982_|18,411|||



_Dharmachakra (UK) annual accounts to 31st December 2020_ 



_Dharmachakra (UK) annual accounts to 31st December 2020_ 

## _Receipts and Payments Accounts_ 

## _January to December 2020_ 

|_£_|_£_|_£_|_£_|_£_||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|_FBA_|_TBC_|_Total_|_2019_|_change_|_NOTES_|



## _**NOTES:**_ 

Note 1: increase in general donations to The Buddhist Centre Online 

In general, The Buddhist Centre Online received a large upturn in donations, as people made much more use of our services, either via events and retreats (see note 2 below), or in other ways, due largely to the covid-19 lockdowns effecting the closure of buddhist centres and retreat centres around the world. 

## Note 2: Events income: 

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to the ongoing closure of Triratna buddhist centres and retreat centres throughout 2020 (from March onwards) and beyond, Dharmachakra responded by hosting a number of events and retreats, via zoom, for the Triratna Community.  These were by donation, facilitated by the platform Eventbrite.  In some cases a proportion of the proceedings was gifted to the teacher of the event, for the work they had put in to the event. 

Note 3: In 2019, 'Other Donations' was higher, 

as it included a donation from Triratna Berlin for The Buddhist Centre Online's help with the european convention; and also it included a 2018 annual donation from Triratna Essen which was not received until early 2019, thereby boosting the 2019 'other donations' total. 

## Note 4: Gift Aid receipt 

The Gift Aid receipt for 2019 (relating to 2018 donations) was not received until 2020.  So there is a nil Gift Aid receipt in 2019 and a double receipt in 2020 (relating to 2018 and 2019 donations). 

Note 5: Bank fees etc are made up of International transfers (via Wise) / paypal fees / Eventbrite fees 

## Note 6: Expenses: 

Due to covid-19, as mentioned in 'income' notes above, we hosted many online events, which had associated costs eg the hiring of contractors to facilitate the events etc. 

But we also saved several thousand pounds on all the travel that Candradasa etc would have undertaken in a normal year. Therefore costs were overall only a bit higher than in 2019. 

## Note 7: increase in USA grant compared to 2019 

In 2019 our USA operation had some extra income from a domain name sale, such that it required less grant from our UK side. 

|_Fixed Asset_|_31/12/2020_<br>_s_<br> _gs, Equipment_<br>_5,376_<br>_Statement of Assets and Liabilities_|_31/12/2020_<br>_s_<br> _gs, Equipment_<br>_5,376_<br>_Statement of Assets and Liabilities_|_31/12/2019_<br>_NOTES_<br>_5,376_<br>_5,376_<br>_1,665_<br>_58_<br>_16,963_<br>_1,321_<br>_20,007_<br>_0_<br>_25,383_<br>_0_<br>_25,383_<br>5,376<br>20,007<br>25,383|
|---|---|---|---|
||_s_<br> _gs, Equipment_<br>|||
|_Fixtures, Fittin_||||
|_Current As_|_sets_<br>_& In Hand_<br>_1 & No2 Accounts_<br>_t_<br>_Bank Account_<br>_nts_|_5,376_<br>_558_<br>_59_<br>_42,143_<br>_5,641_||
|_Cash at Bank_||||
|_Santander No_<br>_CCLA Accoun_<br>_Co-operative_<br>_PayPal Accou_||||
|_Uncleared rec_|_eipts_|_48,400_<br>_0_||
|_Total Asset_|_s_|_53,776_||
|_Liabilities_||||
|||_0_||
|_Net Assets_||_53,776_||
|_Represented b_|_y:_<br>alue of fixed assets<br>nds|5,376<br>48,400||
|<br>approximate v<br>Unrestricted fu||||
|||53,776||



|**signed off via zoom trustee meeting of 30th June 2021**|**TRUSTEES at that date:**<br>Madeline Cadwallender (Secretary)<br>Bettye Pruitt<br>David Creighton<br>Sean Boland<br>Tim Holden|
|---|---|
|<br>….........................................................<br>Madeline Cadwallender (Secretary)||





CHARITY COMMISSION
FOR ENGLAND ANO WALES
Independent examinerfs report on the
accounts
Section A
Independent Examiner's Report
Roport to th• trustw
members of
Dharmachakra
On a￿Ounts for the y￿r
31112r2020
Charfty no
(rf any)
294143
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of tr* above
charity (Yhe Trust.) for the year ended 3111212020.
Responsibilities and
basis of report
As the Charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the
accounts in accordan￿ with the requirements of the Charities A¢# 2011
he Act").
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust'8 accounts carried out
under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I
have followed all the applicable D1￿ctIOnS given by the Charity Commission
under section 145(5)(b) of the ACL
Inde￿ndent I have compteted my examination. I confim that no material matters have
examinerfs statement come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me
cause lo believe that in, any material respe￿.
the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130
of the Charities Act,. or
the accounts did not accord with the accounting records: or
the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements
conceming the fomi and content of accounts set out in the Charities
(Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement
that the accounts give a Irue and fairf view which is not a matter
considered as part of an independent examinakn'on.
I have no concems and have come across no other matters in conne(XiL
with the examination to which attention should L* drawn in this report in
order to enable a proper understanding of the ac￿Unts to be reached.
Slgned:
04105r2021
Name:
Fay Pritchard
R•l•v•nt prof•Mlonal
qualfflcallonl•) or body
(If any):
MAAT liconca no: 1004354
Addro••:
8 Darwin Street
Shrewsbury
SY3 8QE
IER
Oct 2018