ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS

Registered charity 207076 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as R S P B, THE RSPB · also registered in Scotland as SC037654 (OSCR)

To promote the conservation of biological diversity and the natural environment for the public benefit by conserving wild birds and other wildlife, and the environment on which they depend,protecting, restoring and re-creating habitats.To raise public understanding and awareness,and to provide information on,such matters.To advance education of the public in conservation of the natural environment

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

Latest income
£195.0m
Latest spending
£176.8m
Registered
1962
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported a record total income of £195.0 million and a net movement in funds of £29.9 million for the year ended 31 March 2025. Per the trustees' report, free financial reserves stood at £40.3 million, representing 12 weeks' expenditure cover, which is within the stated policy range of 8 to 16 weeks. The charity confirmed it has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future.

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

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: 8 to 16 weeks' worth of expenditure (held: £40.3m)
“The Trustees have agreed that free reserves should normally be within a range of 8 to 16 weeks’ worth of expenditure.”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Crowe U.K. LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

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.

UK research funding (UKRI Gateway to Research)

Property (HM Land Registry)

872 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (690 freehold); recorded price paid £3.9m. All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

Trustpilot: RSPB scores 2.0/5 from 111 reviews (source) — reviews usually concern the charity’s shops or services, not its charitable performance.

Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook (523,256 likes) · instagram (538K followers)

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2025)

Total income
£195.0m
Total spending
£176.8m
Cost of raising funds
£42.7m
Reserves (reported)
£40.3m
Employees
2,486

Reported reserves equal ~2.7 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 2.7 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 21.9% of total income — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 2.9%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Trustees · trustee networks

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

Operates in: Anguilla · Argentina · Ascension · Bangladesh · Brazil · British Virgin Islands · Cayman Islands · Chile · China · Cyprus · Falkland Islands · Ghana

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/03/2025£195.0m£176.8m
31/03/2024£169.9m£168.0m
31/03/2023£164.7m£164.8m
31/03/2022£157.7m£143.1m
31/03/2021£142.4m£121.6m

Common questions

Is ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity reported a record total income of £195.0 million and a net movement in funds of £29.9 million for the year ended 31 March 2025. Per the trustees' report, free financial reserves stood at £40.3 million, representing 12 weeks' expenditure cover, which is within the stated policy range of 8 to 16 weeks. The charity confirmed it has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Crowe U.K. LLP.

Who funds ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS?

Funders whose own accounts filings name ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS as a grant recipient include GARFIELD WESTON FOUNDATION, JOHN ELLERMAN FOUNDATION, THE DRW FOUNDATION, JOHN SWIRE 1989 CHARITABLE TRUST, THE ICTHIUS CHARITABLE TRUST.

Known funders

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

FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
GARFIELD WESTON FOUNDATIONFY2024£250kEnvironment
JOHN ELLERMAN FOUNDATIONFY2025£150kCore cost funding including their UK Overseas Territories project salaries
JOHN ELLERMAN FOUNDATIONFY2022£150kFunding to support the purchase of land at the Salina Reserve Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA).
THE DRW FOUNDATIONFY2025£109ksupport towards wildlife-friendly habitat management among farmers
JOHN ELLERMAN FOUNDATIONFY2023£76kFunding for the post of Sustainable Cayman Campaign Officer to resource a campaign to protect Cayman’s Central Mangrove Wetland
JOHN SWIRE 1989 CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2024£60k
THE ICTHIUS CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2024£43k
GRANTSCAPEFY2023£37kImproving the visitor experience at RSPB The Lodge
GRANTSCAPEFY2023£37kImproving the visitor experience at RSPB The Lodge
THE PENNIES FOUNDATIONFY2024£23k
PEACOCK CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2024£16k
PEACOCK CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2022£16k
PEACOCK CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2023£16k
THE HASLUCK CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2024£9k
THE HASLUCK CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2025£9k
THE HASLUCK CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2022£7k
THE THOMAS RAWCLIFFE CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2023£4k
THE ICTHIUS CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2022£4k
THE HASLUCK CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2023£2k
THE DAVID FAMILY FOUNDATIONFY2023£2k
THE ISABEL BLACKMAN FOUNDATIONFY2026£2kEnvironment
JOHN SWIRE 1989 CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2023£1k
ETHEL AND GWYNNE MORGAN TRUSTFY2025£1kAnimal Welfare
THE THOMAS RAWCLIFFE CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2022£250
THE DAVID FAMILY FOUNDATIONFY2022£0
THE ICTHIUS CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2023—

Government & lottery funding

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

FunderDateAmountPurpose
The National Lottery Heritage Fund11/03/2026£250k"Nature South West: collaborative action for landscape-scale nature recovery"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund10/03/2026£372k"Safeguarding Iconic Forth Seabird Islands in Partnership"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund03/12/2024£205k"Ynys Greigiog – Building Resilience at Ynys-hir Ynys Greigiog - Adeiladu Gwydnwch yn Ynys-hir"
UK government01/04/2024£153kDPLUS207: Empowering and preparing Caymans Sister Islands to tackle invasive mammals
UK government01/04/2024£93CF0060-LW_000174
UK government01/04/2024£28kLW_000174-CF0032
UK government01/04/2024£11kLW_000174-CF0032
UK government01/04/2024£27kLW_000174-CF0021
UK government01/04/2024£158kDPSTR001: Enabling effective biosecurity in the Caribbean UK Overseas Territories
UK government01/04/2024£19kLW_000174-CF0066
The National Lottery Heritage Fund21/03/2024£451k"Our Living Levels: A sustainable future for the Gwent Levels"
UK government20/03/2024£249kGreater Sedgemoor LR Project
UK government05/03/2024£41k#NNF3 Sustaining the Uplands of North East Wales for Black Grouse / Cynnal ucheldiroedd gogledd ddwyrain Cymru ar gyfer y Rugiar ddu
UK government05/03/2024£50k#NNF3 Newid Llanw: llawlyfr cymunedol ar gyfer arfordir gwydn / Changing Tides A community guide to a resilient coast
UK government08/02/2024£524k#Species Coastal and Wetlands: more, better, bigger, joined
UK government15/09/2023£13kNCF NCPGS Peatland Restoration Round 3 - RSPB
UK government07/06/2023£6kENGLAND COAST PATH - G-S-EHS_2023(2) - Establishment Costs
UK government01/04/2023£90kLR1219556_C4
UK government01/04/2023£10kLR1219556_C2
UK government01/04/2023£4kLRWarehamClaim1
UK government01/04/2023£45kLR1219556_C3
UK government17/02/2023£78kNorthward Hill Environmental Enhancements (RSPB)
UK government16/02/2023£208kShorne Marshes Wetland Habitat Improvements (RSPB)
UK government16/02/2023£42kRainham Marshes Biodiversity Enhancements (RSPB)
The National Lottery Heritage Fund19/12/2022£32k"#NNF2 Biosecurity for Wales"

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.

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with RESTORE OUR PLANET.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS£195.0m——unclear—no doubt
RESTORE OUR PLANET FY2025£162k——unclear—no doubt
THE WILDLIFE AID FOUNDATION FY2024£2.0m£60,000 - £69,9991unclear3.1%no doubt
THE LANCASHIRE WILDLIFE TRUST FY2025£9.2m——unclear—no doubt
THE WILDLIFE HOSPITAL FOUNDATION FY2025£2.9m——above—no doubt
HAMPSHIRE AND ISLE OF WIGHT WILDLIFE TRUST FY2025£9.9m——unclear—no doubt

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