How we’re funded

We couldn’t do what we do without you – the amazing people who trust us with your money to help women and girls living in poverty change their lives, for good.

From child sponsors and marathon runners to trusts and corporate sponsors, find out how we received funding in 2022 to run our life-changing projects.

Our income year on year

The pie chart below shows you who gave us how much.

The largest percentage of our funding comes from individual committed giving: this fantastic support is the best guarantee of our independence as a charity.

To see this in more detail, you can download our annual reports or go to the International Aid Transparency Initiative website.

Our supporters

We’d like to say a huge thank you for the generous donations of all our supporters who provided over 84% of our income in 2022.

Our income in 2022

Income (£m)	2022	2021	2020
Committed giving This includes income from Child Sponsorship, The Next Step, Basics, and our Country Programme General Fund and any Gift Aid collected from these amounts.	27.3	27.9	27.9
Appeals, individuals, and legacies This includes income from legacies (e.g. Will Aid), emergency appeals (e.g. Ukraine and Afghanistan appeals), regular appeals like our Christmas appeal, Gifts in Action, general donations, payroll giving, events, JustGiving.com, and any Gift Aid collected from these amounts.	10.3	11.6	10.4
Government and EU This includes income in the form of grants from governments (e.g. the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), the Dutch foreign ministry and EU agencies including ECHO and EuropeAid).	3.8	4.3	6.3
Trading income In prior years income from People’s Postcode Lottery was reported under Trading.	0	0	2.6
DEC This is income from the Disasters Emergency Committee, including a large allocation for Ukraine in 2022.	12.7	2.2	1.0
NGOs, Trusts and companies This includes income from other NGOs and trusts, such as the Ethical Tea Partnership and the People's Postcode Lottery, and also from companies. These can take the form of donations or grants.	5.0	3.2	1.3
Other This includes rental income from subletting parts of our office building.	0.4	0.4	0.8

Supporting safe spaces for survivors of violence

In 2022 you helped raise money for our work supporting safe safe spaces where women who've survived violence can get a warm bed - and a fresh start.

At the shelters, women find not just safety, but a supportive community to help them heal. This includes medical care, psychological support and access to legal professionals so, if they choose to, they can take their aggressors to court.

The shelters are staffed and led by local women - experts who know best how to create lasting change in their communities. They are often survivors of violence themselves.

These shelters are a vital lifeline for women, and every day your donations are helping to keep their doors open.

ActionAid women's shelters provide not just a warm bed, but legal advice, psychological support and skills training.

ActionAid

Players of People's Postcode Lottery helped to empower young women

In 2020, thanks to the players of People's Postcode Lottery, we supported our work promoting girls' empowerment and promoting the rights of women.

In Ghana, People's Postcode Lottery has funded safe spaces for women to advocate for rights and distribute sanitary pads to over 1,600 members across five regions.

Find out more about People's Postcode Lottery

Our Gifts in Action help strengthen communities

Our supporters helped Shaher, from Afghanistan with the training and equipment needed to start beekeeping. Her new skill has transformed her life.

For the first time, ActionAid offered beekeeping gifts as part of its Gifts in Action range. Gifts in the ‘Beehives to Thrive’ category help women kickstart a new career in beekeeping and earn an independent income.

Before, women in my community didn’t have any opportunity to work except for household and caring activities... now, I spend profits from my beekeeping on my children’s education, buying new clothes for my children and supporting my husband with the household expenses."

Learn more about Gifts in Action