OCF’s accounts show that the organisation continues to thrive, with over £1 million in voluntary income and £1.2 million made in grants during the financial year 2017-18.
Details of our audited accounts can be found in our new Financial Summary 2018, a four-page extract of our accounts that presents our progress to date in a quick and accessible format. The summary can be downloaded here.
OCF’s key achievements in 2017-18 were:
- We awarded over £1 million in grants for the first time in our history – an increase of 42% from the previous year.
- We positioned Step Change as our flagship grants programme, with a total of £252,000 awarded to boost the operational management of Oxfordshire’s leading small charities.
- We passed Quality Accreditation for the fourth time, and achieved an exemplar rating, ensuring we meet common standards of governance, financial management and planning.
- We continued our digital innovation, purchasing an online tool to research and evidence local needs, and partnering with online match-funding platform The Good Exchange.
- We established the new Westgate Fund with a £125,000 donation from John Lewis, which will tackle social problems affecting Oxford city, such as joblessness and rough sleeping.
- We convened an ‘Age Friendly’ partnership in Banbury with the support of DCMS and the Big Lottery, which focuses on older people and loneliness.
- We raised £1,109,139 in total voluntary income, making 2017–18 the fifth consecutive year where OCF has stewarded more than £1 million in new donations.
The accounts also preview our plans for future periods, centred on following up on our research report Oxfordshire Uncovered, which highlighted OCF’s potential as a community leader and independent convener. We aspire to work ever more collaboratively with as many other organisations as necessary, and to create partnerships and initiatives that will achieve sustainable, systemic change to Oxfordshire’s social problems.
The evolution of this is that we are now investing our resources in a number of strategic programmes that we hope will evolve into an emerging portfolio of activity. A key part of this is the planned appointment of a Director of Strategic Programmes: a new, pivotal and senior role responsible for driving forward our community leadership and convening activities.
This approach will help us sharpen our marketing and communications, engaging more people in the community to help tackle the key social problems of our day. We are committed to increasing our reach and impact through new digital means, such as video and streamlined giving.