By Torben Bjerre-Madsen, Chairman of WAWCAS International and head of the financegroup
At the last board meeting, we discussed the board financial figures for 2015, and it was a very positive experience. When we view the WAWCAS program as a whole, we had a total revenue in 2015 of 2,274,000 dkr which is 909,000 dkr more than the 1,365,000 dkr we received in 2014. The increase in revenues was due to some large individual donations, especially from Danish donors, but we also received a large number of small donations from many Danish private contributors as well. This is due to the desire to support following the massive earthquake that started in April last year. The amounts were partly received under our authorization to collect through our website, and partly from the support from a wide range of individuals and companies, known internally as “Friends of WAWCAS”.
The cost for this year was at 1,155,000 dkr, which is 167,000 dkr, more than the 994,000 dkr that was used in 2014. The earthquakes meant that we, as previously mentioned, were not able to launch as many new women’s groups as expected, and in itself meant a smaller decrease in costs than had been planned. At the same time we were allocated a fairly large amount of direct aid after the earthquakes. Thus, with the funds allocated, we bought a large number of solar lamps to ensure that the children and adults have lights at night. Furthermore, we were able to provide an extra month’s salary to our employees in Nepal to compensate a little for soaring prices, which was another negative consequence of the earthquake. Administration costs amounted to approximately 5% of the total costs.
Overall, this means that we are economically well prepared for the coming years, as we already have money in the bank for our operating expenses in 2016 and even well into 2017. This provides peace within the organization and the desire and opportunity to continue the development of the WAWCAS program.
Like last year, WAWCAS International will prepare an annual report that will be made available on the website.