Practical Action depends on the support of individuals, trusts, NGOs and goverments to deliver its work to poor communities worldwide.

In 2010-11 Practical Action had an income of just over £27.4 million. Of this, 38% was raised from voluntary donations by individuals or by small family trusts and companies.

A further 55% came from grants made by the UK and other governments for development assistance, by multilateral development agencies such as the World Bank, and by other large funders such as international trusts, and 7% came from the income of Practical Action's publishing and consultancy subsidiaries.

How is the money spent?

Practical Action spent £26.7 million in 2010-11. The majority of spending, 83%, was directly on our programmes round the world. 6% of expenditure was on the operations of the subsidiaries, and 10% was reinvested in further fundraising. Only 1% of expenditure was on management and administration (calculated by UK Charity Commission-regulated norms).

Current economic climate

Like all charities, Practical Action is adversely affected by the global economic instability - both by a reduction in the number of donations we receive from individuals, trusts, foundations, and by weakening position of the Pound which means that in many of the countries where we work things are now costing more. However, like many other charities we are managing costs very carefully. With good financial management processes in place, we believe we are in a good position to weather the downturn.