Overview of ILGA-Europe’s Finances in 2022

In the financial year 2022 ILGA-Europe obtained and recognized 3 687 082 € in revenues, which is approx. an 11% (over 365 000 €) increase from the 2021 revenues. Another 200 000 € in donations and approx. 600 000 € in core grants were received in the course of 2022 but carried over to 2023 and further, to secure more operational budgets in the nearest future. The majority of funding recognized in 2022 was sourced from long-term projects and grants, raised in the preceding years.

The 2016 – 2022 comparison (see chart below) of proportions of core funding, unrestricted funding (donations and sponsorships), operating funding (European Commission) and project funding recognized in each year shows that in 2022 ILGA-Europe continued to prioritize flexible resources. The share of unrestricted funding (core grants, unrestricted donations and sponsorships) increased significantly over the past years, but it should be noted that in 2022 the amount of unrestricted donations received was lower than expected (480 000 € in 2021 and 280 000 € in 2022). The income of the European Commission operating grant was increased slightly in 2022, and will further increase in 2023. 2022 marked the beginning of a new Framework Partnership with the EC, under which ILGA-Europe will soon begin re-granting.

The two core grants used throughout the year (Wellspring Philanthropic Fund – 417 670 € and Open Society Foundations – 200 000 €) corresponded to 24% of the total budget. The share of project funding (over 1.7M € in 2022) increased to 66% of the total budget, with more resources mobilized to answer specific needs, and in lieu of higher unrestricted incomes. Within this category of project funding ILGA-Europe included two grants which in their nature were core, but were earmarked for providing funding in response to the war in Ukraine.

In terms of project financing, the majority of projects active in 2021 continued into 2022, with only one stream of programmatic funding (Anonymous) was closed and not renewed, but replaced with a project from another funder. The highest non-flexible revenues recognized were issued by:

• European Commission (Operating Grant) – 1 000 000.00 €
• Global Equality Fund – 464 301.41 €
• Anonymous – 315 561.55 €
• The Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands – 210 000.00 €.

While the previous financial years have been heavily affected by Covid-19 in terms of both revenues and our ability to process funds and carry out activities, 2022 cannot be analysed without the mention of the impact of the invasion of Ukraine. ILGA-Europe quickly shifted its work and budget to enable as much coordination and support as possible be offered to the movement in Ukraine and neighbouring countries. No active fundraising was carried out – given the significant number of ongoing fundraisers, ILGA-Europe prioritized mapping existing efforts and needs, in order to be able to channel donors to where resources were needed, where gaps occurred (especially keeping in mind wider reach and distribution of resources, in particular to groups with less access to donors).

At the same time, significant amounts of ILGA-Europe’s resources were earmarked for financial and other support to groups operating in and around Ukraine. Two core grants (with the total value of 210 688 €) were received and assigned to the purpose of supporting the LGBTI movement in those areas with subgrants.

Additionally, just over 9 000 € in extraordinary revenues was recorded from write offs, unreconciled refunds and round up differences. These are income items recognized largely at year-end. While they constitute unrestricted funding, ILGA-Europe limits their generation through internal controls, and they serve to balance any negative write offs, currency exchange balances and other similar losses.

The total of expenditures registered in financial year 2022 amounted to 3 606 265 €.

The audit of financial year 2022 took place in January 2023 and found no issues. It confirms recognized income of 3 687 082 €, expenses of 3 606 265 €, and a year-end result of 80 817 €. This year-end result was primarily sourced from unrestricted funds and extraordinary income.