THE RUFFORD FOUNDATION

Registered charity 1117270 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as RUFFORD SMALL GRANTS, RUFFORD SMALL GRANTS FOUNDATION

MAKING GRANTS TO CONSERVATIONISTS AND ORGANISATIONS, PREDOMINANTLY IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD

Causes: Animals · Environment/conservation/heritage · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Latest income

£3.9m

Latest spending

£4.4m

Registered

2006

Accounts read

FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the Charity holds substantial unrestricted reserves of £120,249,660, comprising a capital fund of £119,513,056 and an income fund of £736,604. The Trustees confirm that there are no material uncertainties regarding the Charity's ability to continue as a going concern, supported by its substantial net asset base and ability to manage grant-making within available resources.

Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Highest-paid employee band: £80,001 - £90,000 — above the median for charities its size (£70k)

“Number of employees earning between £80,001 - £90,000 4” — page 29

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Note 15

“Olivia Smailes (daughter of Trustee, M | T Smailes) completed digital design work for The Rufford Foundation in August 2024 for which she received £1,007” — page 34

“TRAFFIC, an entity in which S R Broad is beneficially interested, received a grant of £15,000 during the year.” — page 34

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Note 15

“Olivia Smailes (daughter of Trustee, M | T Smailes) completed digital design work for The Rufford Foundation in August 2024 for which she received £1,007” — page 34

“TRAFFIC, an entity in which S R Broad is beneficially interested, received a grant of £15,000 during the year.” — page 34

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Note 15

“Olivia Smailes (daughter of Trustee, M | T Smailes) completed digital design work for The Rufford Foundation in August 2024 for which she received £1,007” — page 34

“TRAFFIC, an entity in which S R Broad is beneficially interested, received a grant of £15,000 during the year.” — page 34

Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Rawlinson & Hunter Audit LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Funders the charity credits

Named as funders/supporters on the charity’s own website (the charity’s claim, distinct from accounts-verified grants).

The Rufford Foundation — “The Rufford Foundation - Providing grant funding for nature conservation and pilot projects around the world” (source page)

Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook · instagram

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 05/04/2025)

Total income

£3.9m

Total spending

£4.4m

Cost of raising funds

£356k

Reserves (reported)

£120.2m

Employees

Per its annual return, largest income source: Investments (100% of income) — components as reported reconcile to the return’s total income; not from the accounts narrative.

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 9.1% of total income — above the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Received assets from another charity (28/03/2013) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

Dr Howard Paul Nelson
Elizabeth Sarah Brunwin · trustee of 2 other charities
HUGO BENJAMIN EDWARDS
MR IAIN SMAILES
Sian Jones
Steven Broad

Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).

Operates in: Albania · Argentina · Armenia · Australia · Bangladesh · Benin · Bhutan · Bolivia · Bosnia And Herzegovina · Botswana · Brazil · Burkina Faso

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
05/04/2025	£3.9m	£4.4m
05/04/2024	£4.2m	£3.8m
05/04/2023	£3.6m	£3.8m
05/04/2022	£4.5m	£3.6m
05/04/2021	£3.3m	£4.1m

Common questions

Is THE RUFFORD FOUNDATION financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the Charity holds substantial unrestricted reserves of £120,249,660, comprising a capital fund of £119,513,056 and an income fund of £736,604. The Trustees confirm that there are no material uncertainties regarding the Charity's ability to continue as a going concern, supported by its substantial net asset base and ability to manage grant-making within available resources. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Rawlinson & Hunter Audit LLP.

What does the highest-paid employee of THE RUFFORD FOUNDATION earn?

Per its FY2025 accounts, the highest-paid employee was in the £80,001 - £90,000 band.

Funders of similar charities

Funders whose accounts show grants to charities similar to this one (and no recorded grant to this charity) — a starting list for fundraisers.

Funder	Similar charities funded	Amount to them
GRAFF FOUNDATION	1	£140k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with THE FRESHFIELD FOUNDATION.

THE FRESHFIELD FOUNDATION income £925k
BRITISH FOUNDATION FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES income £252k
MW (HO) FOUNDATION income £207k
THE RACING FOUNDATION income £1.2m
THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION income £463k
THE LATIF FOUNDATION income £207k

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
THE RUFFORD FOUNDATION	£3.9m	£80,001 - £90,000	—	unclear	—	no doubt
THE FRESHFIELD FOUNDATION FY2024	£925k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
BRITISH FOUNDATION FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES FY2024	£252k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
MW (HO) FOUNDATION FY2024	£207k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
THE RACING FOUNDATION FY2025	£1.2m	—	1	unclear	—	no doubt
THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION FY2025	£463k	—	0	above	—	no doubt

Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.