Where Your Money Goes

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At ShelterBox, we believe everyone deserves a place to call home.

With the help of amazing supporters like you, we’re working hard to provide emergency shelter for vulnerable families around the world who have lost their homes after disaster.

Making a difference in 2022

In 2022, extreme weather events and the crisis in Ukraine created significant need for emergency shelter support across the world.

In the Philippines we supported 100,000 people after Super Typhoon Rai devastated whole communities. Having large quantities of aid in our Cebu warehouse, along with an experienced in-country team, meant we were ready to help when it was needed most.

When the war started in Ukraine in February, we were able to quickly arrange three separate projects, helping people fleeing to Moldova, as well as people staying in collective centres and in damaged homes in Ukraine.

We also started a programme in Yemen. Other projects we worked on were in Pakistan, Mozambique, Syria, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and Nigeria. We couldn’t have done it without you – our amazing supporters.

How you give to us

Your gifts reach us in a number of different ways.

Whilst a large part of our income comes from supporters who donate to appeals when disasters strike, many choose to give us a regular gift, sign-up to our Book Club or take part in local events or challenges.

ShelterBox works with fantastic corporate partners. We have strong relationships with trusts and foundations.

We work with a global network of supporters, volunteers and partners. We are incredibly proud to be official project partners with Rotary International and receive amazing support from Rotarians around the world.

Three women in colourful headscarves sitting in a tent chatting in Pakistan

Where your money goes

Woman and three children with a bag of ShelterBox aid in Mozambique

In 2022, around 80p in every pound given to ShelterBox was used to provide emergency shelter after disaster. The remaining 20p was invested to raise future vital funds.

In case events in any single year have a distorting effect, we also report a three-year average to give a clearer picture of how we are performing. Our current three-year average is 74p in every pound spent on providing emergency shelter and 26p spent on raising funds.

In 2022, we spent £14 million – that’s more than ever before – supporting disaster-hit families with essential items like tents, tarpaulins, toolkits, solar lights, water filters and carriers, blankets, cooking sets and mosquito nets.

For more information, read our 2022 annual report.

Running costs

Sometimes called ‘support and governance’, these are the costs involved in running a charity.

They are made up of essential activities that allow us to grow our support for disaster-affected families. They include things like:

Safeguarding training, process and policies – making sure the families we support, as well as our staff, volunteers and supporters, are kept safe.
Strong leadership and skilled teams - making sure we have specialist teams in place, as well as training and paying our staff.
Technology and financial systems – helping us to work as quickly and efficiently as possible.
A healthy and safe working environment – including things like insurance to protect our teams working in extreme environments.

It is very important to invest in making sure we have these in place to allow us to continue to support more people. ShelterBox is committed to keeping our governance and support costs as low as possible whilst also delivering the best possible emergency shelter support.

In 2022, we spent £2.3 million on these activities.