Published: 30 March 2022
As Benefact Trust doesn’t need to rely on fundraising from donors to secure income, our cost base is low, and therefore the vast majority of our funds are available for grant making. The growth that Benefact Group has experienced has been a real catalyst, enabling us to increase our impactful grant funding over the years. So let’s take a look at a structure that makes us stand out within the charitable sector.
Where does our grant funding come from?
Did you know that Benefact Trust does not fundraise? As the charitable owner of Benefact Group, we get the majority of our income from the Group’s trading subsidiaries (which includes Ecclesiastical Insurance, among others). In addition, our Trust receives donations from Methodist Insurance PLC and investment income generated from our Expendable Endowment Fund.
Benefact Group is a specialist financial services group, whose activities include general insurance underwriting, insurance broking, financial advisory and investment management. Whilst the majority of these businesses are UK based, the group also has overseas operations where there are strong ties to the Anglican Church through the Church of Ireland, the Anglican Church of Canada and the Anglican Church of Australia.
In 2019, Benefact Group achieved a turnover of £426m, with around 1,600 staff around the world. While it’s a commercial organisation, what makes the Group distinct is the charitable purpose at its core and the way it’s remained true to its founding values: to deliver a sustainable financial return in the form of charitable grants to our Trust.
Grants that respond to the needs of today
As the Trust’s cost base is low, the vast majority of our funds are available for grant-making. It means we don’t need to rely on fundraising from donors to secure our income. We’ve also established a straightforward governance structure across Benefact Trust when it comes to grant-making; making us agile and able to respond swiftly to changing beneficiary needs, aid recovery and build resilience to cope with emergencies and crises (as evidenced in the past two years with our Afghan Evacuees Emergency Grants Programme, and our Hope Beyond Grants Programme).
Since 1972 we’ve awarded over £235million in grants to a wide range of organisations, and we remain committed to giving as much as we can. In the last 5 years we’ve awarded more money in grants than ever before (at £100 million), and we also supported more organisations last year than at any time in our 50-year history. In addition, we’re also pleased that we only spent 4.3% of our income on administering these grants.
Adding more value for beneficiaries and communities
Our beneficiaries are at the heart of all of the Trust’s activities, and we bring a genuine commitment to get to know them and understand their needs. As a ‘catalyst’ funder we’re able to offer early, practical advice and financial support that make it possible to unlock additional funding and strengthen project plans.
As one of the UK’s most impactful Christian grant-giving charities, Benefact Trust’s strategy is focused on a sustainable future for us and our beneficiaries, built on our distinct funding model and strong relationship with Benefact Group. Most importantly, this means we can continue to ensure that our grants programmes are effective in enabling beneficiaries to have a transformative and long-lasting impact across communities.
