Everything you need
If you have further questions or have problems, this is the place to find out more.
Where does your funding come from?
Most of our funding - three quarters - comes from people like you. That's why we answer to you: it's your money that's helping us fight poverty. People who put money into the little red Christian Aid Week envelopes and collecting tins, who respond to appeals when an emergency hits, who sign up for direct debits.
The balance comes from governments, international institutions, trusts and foundations, plus some income from our investments and trading activities. This year, 22% came from governments and institutions. Our board has set a ceiling on how much money we can take from governments of 30 per cent to underscore our independence.
A more detailed breakdown of where we get our money
How much do you spend on administration and fundraising?
Eighty-four per cent of our income goes towards our direct charitable activities - in other words, towards ending poverty. Just over half our expenditure, 56 per cent, is grants to partners, money that goes directly to fighting poverty in the developing world. A further 28 per cent goes on what we call 'programme support' - that is selecting, monitoring and evaluating the programmes we are helping to fund. If we didn't do this, we would rightly be accused of negligence. It would be irresponsible simply to dole out cash to projects with no idea whether the money was being well spent.
0.5 per cent goes on what is known as 'governance' of the charity. This means things like audits - to make sure the organisation is run properly and in accordance with UK and Irish law - administration and fundraising. Fundraising takes up 15.5 per cent - we need to raise money to do our work - but the money invested in generating funds is returned several times over each year.
What difference does my donation make? In 2006/07, in large part thanks to your donations, Christian Aid spent £63.9 million responding to emergencies and supporting development programmes in nearly 50 of the world's poorest countries.
In India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, your money enabled our partners to help half a million people begin to return to some sort of normal life after the Indian Ocean tsunami.
Your contributions made it possible for us to respond quickly and effectively to a drought in Afghanistan so harsh that the fields were bare and food was running out.
You helped us launch our campaign on climate change and call for a climate change agenda that included the needs of poor people.
You helped us get people out on the streets for Make Poverty History and enabled us to support human rights workers in the danger zones of Colombia and the West Bank.
What difference does campaigning make?
All the difference in the world. If we don't tackle the causes of poverty and injustice, we will forever be dealing with its symptoms - hunger, disease, unemployment, inequality, environmental destruction, and lack of education, rights and opportunity.
Armed with the facts and given the tools to campaign with fellow supporters, voters can lobby their MPs to support our campaigns - and if the MPs don't, our campaigners can vote for those who will.
There are so many aid agencies - why don't you work together more?
We do work in cooperation with other international agencies when we think this will make us more effective, especially during emergencies and disasters, such as the Asian tsunami.
When we plan any new project, our staff and partners check whether there are any other agencies working in the same area, and whether what we are planning to support will complement or duplicate the work they are doing.
Christian Aid campaigns on climate change as part of iCount, because combining our voice with others means we have a bigger, louder voice more easily heard by those in positions of power.
We are also part of alliances including the global ecumenical network Action by Churches Together. We are members of the Disasters Emergency Committee, the British Overseas Aid Group and the Irish NGO network Dochas.
But there is value in having a distinct, individual identity. The public often wishes to give to particular causes or to agencies that work in a particular way - for example, some may want to give money to an organisation that is politically outspoken about the Middle East, others may prefer to sponsor a child or focus on funding healthcare. So having a variety of agencies helps the public better direct their money to the specific causes that most interest them.
How can I get involved? What can I do?
Lots of things! For all the ways in which you can join our movement for change and how to sign up visit the Do Something Else page in the Christian Aid Week 2008 website.
We also run 'challenge events' to raise money, some of which include a visit to Christian Aid partner organisations.
Email: events@christian-aid.org to find out more.
If I give you my details/sign up for emails, how do I know you won't bombard me with emails/junk mail?
The vast majority of the people to whom we write already support Christian Aid in one way or another and have not said that they do not wish to hear from us. Occasionally, we buy 'list' names - individuals who have indicated that they want to receive information about the kind of development work we do. We do this after making sure the list names do not already appear in our records.
Under the Data Protection Act, anyone we contact must have given their permission to be contacted about services that may be relevant to them. These services include charitable causes. But if you don't wish to be contacted by us, just let us know.
If you find that your question is not answered please contact us .