Public Fundraising

Fundraising is key to War Child’s mission in support of children who live with the effects of armed conflict. The donations and public support we receive allow us to be present wherever children’s needs are greatest - without them we literally could not fulfil our mission.

In 2017 we tested our new long-term fundraising strategy and rolled out several new initiatives to raise our brand awareness. The year saw us face several challenges in our fundraising activities which affected our results.

We increased investment in our fundraising activities compared with 2016 - yet we still fell slightly short of our total fundraising target for 2017. 

Looking back on our performance over the course of 2017 we believe our fundraising targets were too ambitious. The development and pilot testing of our new fundraising strategy and the implementation of a new database system required more of us than we anticipated - taking vital resources away from our core activities. 

The year did see us expand our reach and increase public awareness about our work. Several major initiatives contributed to this success - including our petition campaign; the huge volume of publicity surrounding our Jij&Ik TV event; the significant social media reach of our Batman film; and our new association with the world’s number one DJ Martin Garrix.

Structural income from individual donors was €100,000 above our target. We also reached our revenue targets from the War Child Kidsclub and legacies. We fell short, however, of our revenue targets with regard to War Child Events, third-party events and business partners.

These successes were forged in a competitive fundraising environment. The market is very competitive with an increasing number of NGOs competing for funds in the areas we specialise in - psychosocial support and protection for children affected by conflict.