How we raise our funds

Age UK raises money in a variety of ways.

Income from fundraising and charitable activity

We are grateful to our many generous supporters. Fundraising through donations, legacies, gifts, partnerships and other voluntary contributions makes up our largest source of net income at 64.5%. We also raise money by delivering charitable activities, including our Experts by Experience contract with the Care Quality Commission.

How we fundraise

Older people and their views are at the very heart of our fundraising. We have established principles to ensure that we do not engage in practices that are inconsistent with Age UK’s values. The Age UK Fundraising Charter sets out these principles and reassures people about what we will and will not do when fundraising:

Read our Fundraising Charter

We are a member of the Institute of Fundraising, we are registered with the Fundraising Regulator and we have established our own Fundraising Sounding Board to seek input from older people on our fundraising communications practices. We continue to work with others to improve practice across the charity sector.

For every £1 donated

• we use 11 pence to raise funds for today and tomorrow
• 89 pence is available to help older people

Income from our trading activities

Age UK Trading CIC, a social enterprise, raises money for Age UK’s charitable work by operating over 400 charity shops, providing financial services that meet the needs of older people, and by offering independent living products, like stair lifts. Age UK Trading CIC is committed to acting in ways that are consistent with Age UK's charitable purpose.

Our Trading Principles

This year we have adopted three trading principles which guide all decisions made by the CIC:

• We offer products and services which are good for older people
• Our prices are fair and appropriate, offering good value for money.
• The profit returned to the charity is reasonable and acceptable.

Our work in 2016/17

In 2016/17, our net incoming resources were £73.1 million. This can be broken down into seven main income streams (figures represent total net income for the past year):

• Voluntary (fundraising) £47.2m
  
• Charitable £1.3m
  
• Financial services £12.3m
  
• Independent living solutions £3m
• Retail £2m
• Other trading £5.9m
• Investments & other £1.4m

How we helped people in later life

Our work can be broken down into six main areas. This year we spent £73.2 million on charitable work, of which we used:

• £11.1m to provide information and advice
• £5.8m to deliver and transform health and care services
• £8.8m to deliver and transform wellbeing services
• £21.5m to support the Age UK network
• £8.2m to campaign and research
• £17.8m to work internationally

More about our income sources

Donations

The generosity of our supporters is vital to our survival - donations and gifts are our single greatest source of income.
More information on how to make a donation

Legacies

A donation left to Age UK in your will could make a real difference to people in later life. You can choose whether to donate to our international, national, regional or local work.
Find out more about leaving a legacy

Events

Events and sponsorship are valuable sources of income. Money is raised through a variety of events including dances, local walks and runs, overseas treks and cycle challenges.
All about our events and challenges

Trusts and Foundations

We would like to thank the trusts and foundations who have generously donated to Age UK, to help older people lead more fulfilling lives.
Find out about some of the trusts and foundations that support Age UK

Retail and trading

We have around 400 outlets throughout the UK, selling new and donated goods. 
More information about our shops

We offer a range of products and services tailormade for people in later life. The surplus net profits we raise through trading are gift aided and donated to Age UK.
More information about our products and services