Charity Accounts Intelreading the accounts so you don’t have to

JOSEPH ROWNTREE FOUNDATION

Registered charity 1184957 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also registered in Scotland as SC049712 (OSCR)

JRF is an independent social change organisation working to solve UK poverty. It aims to inspire action andchange that will create a prosperous UK without poverty and it principally does this by undertakingresearch, producing or inputting into policy on poverty, collaborating with others working to the samepurpose and otherwise providing practical solutions.

Causes: Education/training · Disability · The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty · Recreation · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£35.1m
Latest spending
£57.1m
Registered
2019
Accounts read
FY2024

Financial health, per its FY2024 accounts

The accounts state that the charity holds unrestricted capital reserves of £418.8 million, which remain relatively flat during the year as investment gains offset expenditure. The trustees confirm that the group has adequate resources to continue operating without disruption for at least two years from the balance sheet date, citing significant liquid investment holdings and no debt at the parent level.

Automated summary of the FY2024 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Highest-paid employee band: £162,000 — above the median for charities its size (£130k)
“The emoluments of the highest paid director, the Group Chief Executive, excluding pension contributions were £162,000, (2023: the Group Chief Executive £156,000 )” — page 87
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Reserves policy: to ensure that the value of JRF capital is maintained in real terms over the long term (held: £418.8m)
“JRF’s financial objectives are: * to maintain the level of expenditure on achieving its mission and outcomes * to ensure that the value of JRF capital is maintained in real terms over the long term.”
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Trading subsidiary: Clifton Estate Limited
“Clifton Estate Limited (CEL) is a private company limited by share capital, registered under the Companies Act 2006 and incorporated in England. Its registered office is The Homestead, 40 Water End, York, YO30 6WP. JRF owns 100% of the share capital of CEL.” — page 74
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Grant Thornton UK LLP. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

In the news

Recent coverage mentioning this charity by name (automated match; headlines belong to their publishers).

Leadership, per the charity’s website

Listed on the charity’s own website when we last crawled it; roles may have changed. Pay-band disclosures above are anonymous statutory disclosures and are not attributed to any named individual.

Property (HM Land Registry)

7 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (6 freehold). All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

Electoral Commission register entries

Entries on the Electoral Commission’s public register where this charity (or its company) appears as the source — typically sponsorship of an APPG or an overseas visit provided to an MP, which charities may lawfully do. Shown with the Commission’s own reference; this is a transparency record, not an allegation.

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/12/2024)

Total income
£35.1m
Total spending
£57.1m
Cost of raising funds
£2.4m
Reserves (reported)
£566k
Employees
628

Reported reserves equal ~0.1 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.6 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (86% 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: 6.9% of total income — above the median for charities its size (3.8%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Trustees · trustee networks

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

Operates in: Northern Ireland · Scotland · Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/12/2024£35.1m£57.1m
31/12/2023£36.0m£49.2m
31/12/2022£37.4m£45.5m
31/12/2021£34.2m£45.2m
31/12/2020£29.2m£42.5m

Common questions

Is JOSEPH ROWNTREE FOUNDATION financially healthy?

Per its FY2024 accounts: The accounts state that the charity holds unrestricted capital reserves of £418.8 million, which remain relatively flat during the year as investment gains offset expenditure. The trustees confirm that the group has adequate resources to continue operating without disruption for at least two years from the balance sheet date, citing significant liquid investment holdings and no debt at the parent level. Its FY2024 accounts were audited by Grant Thornton UK LLP.

What does the highest-paid employee of JOSEPH ROWNTREE FOUNDATION earn?

Per its FY2024 accounts, the highest-paid employee was in the £162,000 band.

Who funds JOSEPH ROWNTREE FOUNDATION?

Funders whose own accounts filings name JOSEPH ROWNTREE FOUNDATION as a grant recipient include THE LANKELLYCHASE FOUNDATION, THE HOUSING ASSOCIATIONS' CHARITABLE TRUST.

Known funders

Grants to this charity found in funders’ own accounts filings.

FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
THE LANKELLYCHASE FOUNDATIONFY2023£265kGovernance
THE LANKELLYCHASE FOUNDATIONFY2025£20kContribution towards the staging of “Next Frontiers” Conference.
THE LANKELLYCHASE FOUNDATIONFY2025£15kExtension of the Lankelly Chase and JRF Funder Collaborative project.
THE HOUSING ASSOCIATIONS' CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2025£4kCharitable projects

Government & lottery funding

Grants to this charity published as open data by government and lottery funders (360Giving).

FunderDateAmountPurpose
UK government11/03/2024£100kAffordable Housing Grant
UK government24/01/2024£300kAffordable Housing Grant
UK government13/12/2023£200kAffordable Housing Grant
UK government13/12/2023£330kAffordable Housing Grant
UK government20/09/2023£250kAffordable Housing Grant
UK government20/09/2023£275kAffordable Housing Grant
UK government04/11/2022£7kHartlepool Disability Community Research Network
City of York Council—£600Huntington Ward Grant
City of York Council—£3kHuntington & New Earswick Ward Grant
City of York Council—£525Huntington & New Earswick Ward Grant

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.

FunderSimilar charities fundedAmount to them
THE RESOLUTION TRUST1£13.9m
THE MURIEL AND GERSHON COREN CHARITABLE FOUNDATION1£1.8m
THE UKI CHARITABLE FOUNDATION1£717k
THE KASNER CHARITABLE TRUST1£474k
DONATING CHARITY LIMITED1£464k
THE NUFFIELD FOUNDATION1£326k
THE HEALTH FOUNDATION1£291k
JNF CHARITABLE TRUST1£211k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with THE JOSEPH ROWNTREE CHARITABLE TRUST.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
JOSEPH ROWNTREE FOUNDATION£35.1m£162,000—above—no doubt
THE JOSEPH ROWNTREE CHARITABLE TRUST FY2024£3.5m——above—no doubt
THE RESOLUTION FOUNDATION FY2025£4.2m£140,001 - £150,000—unclear—no doubt
JOFFE CHARITABLE TRUST CIO FY2024£595k£70,000 - £79,9991unclear—no doubt
JNF CHARITABLE TRUST FY2024£21.6m——above0.0%no doubt
THE J R S S T CHARITABLE TRUST FY2025£89k—0below—not going concern

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