PlanetRomeo Foundation hereby presents its 2016 annual report. In 2016, we funded 21 projects in 15 different countries, adding up to a total amount of € 91,569. Although these results make us proud, there is still so much more work to do.
In order to further develop and enhance our funding policy and strategies, the Management Board held a two-day evaluation session in the fall of 2016. We also developed a new donate page, optimized for mobile devices, to enable an effortless donation process. This paved the way for a fundraising campaign which ran in December 2016. More information on these subjects can be found in our 2016 Activity overview below.
2016 Project overview
In 2016, a total of 169 funding requests were received. Out of the 169 requests processed, 129 were rejected because they did not match our funding policy and/or had insufficient quality. At the end of 2016, 19 funding requests were still pending, these were reviewed in the first cycle of 2017. A total of 21 funding requests were granted financial support in 2016 for a total amount of € 91,569 funded.
2016 Financial overview
Donation revenue
In 2016, the total amount of donations received was € 127,095. PlanetRomeo Foundation received a total of € 27,095 in third party donations from individuals. An amount of € 25,466 was donated by the PLANETROMEO community, € 1,269 from other sources. PlanetRomeo BV made a donation of € 100,000.
Release of funding obligations
During 2016, a few payment installments for projects supported in previous years were cancelled, due to projects being finished with less expense than previously budgeted for, or projects that didn’t meet their original project goals. This led to a release of funding obligations over previous years in the amount of € 10,700. This amount was added to the 2016 income and directly made available for funding other projects.
2016 Result
The positive result for the year 2016 in the amount of € 36,493 has been added to both the continuity reserve and other reserve.
Continuity reserve and other reserve
The continuity reserve is held to ensure that the Foundation will be able to meet its future financial obligations. Therefore, the continuity reserve is based on the (short term) liabilities relating to projects which are already approved by the board of the Foundation but are not yet paid at balance sheet date. Out of the result of 2016, an amount of € 3,141 was added to the continuity reserve.
The other reserve is relating to the total free capital of the Foundation. Out of the result of 2016, an amount of € 33,352 was added to the continuity reserve, which is fully available for project funding in 2017.
Overhead and service agreement
The total amount of operational costs was € 9,733 in 2016. PlanetRomeo BV provides services, like the provision of staff, office space and inventory to PlanetRomeo Foundation. This is set in a so-called service agreement, which has been valued at a cost level of € 38,405. To cover these costs, PlanetRomeo BV donates these services in-kind. This allows PlanetRomeo Foundation to keep its overhead cost at the lowest level possible. It aims at a rate of less than 10% of its annual income. In 2016, this rate was calculated at a level of 7.7%, service agreement excluded.
2016 Activity overview
Developments in our strategic focus
2016 marked the end of the current strategic plan period. In preparation for the strategic plan 2017-2020, the Management Board held a two-day evaluation session in the fall of 2016. In this session, we further defined our goals and made new choices for our strategy, funding policy, funding themes, and fundraising goals.
With regard to the funding themes, the Management Board decided to discontinue its Education theme. In 2017, a new theme called Community Organizing was introduced. Also, our funding policy was reviewed. It was decided to maintain the greater part of the existing policy, with minor adjustments and additions implemented. These changes have been implemented in 2017.
Additionally, an in-depth analysis was conducted on a range of final project reports. This was to give us a better understanding of the effectivity of our reporting method, as well as to improve the way we monitor and evaluate our funded projects. This led to a few changes in the reporting formats.
Fundraising activities
Our current donation page was in need of further improvement and optimization. Early December 2016, we launched a revised donate page. This page has been developed according to the latest industry standards, is optimized for mobile devices, and contains all current local payment options. This is an essential tool to realize our fundraising ambitions.
With a community of almost 2 million members worldwide, PLANETROMEO members represent crucial fundraising potential. Also in December 2016, an awareness and fundraising campaign was launched as part of our ongoing effort to mobilize this community and connect them to the Foundation. PLANETROMEO members have the option of adding a Foundation Supporter Badge on their profile, after donating to the Foundation, to show their support to other members.
The campaign itself featured 5 short videos by initiators of projects funded by PlanetRomeo Foundation. In these videos, each initiator told the story of their initiative and their personal commitment to achieving their goals. The campaign page generated over 115,000 unique page views in December 2016 and raised over € 11,000. A follow-up early 2017 raised an additional amount of € 18,000.
With the new donate page, the Foundation is now also equipped to target other potential donor groups. We plan to expand our fundraising efforts to the wider LGBTI community.
Networking activities
In 2016, we increased our presence among other LGBTI donors in order to align efforts and become better known among our peers.
The Foundation’s Chair, Karen Kraan, attended an international LGBTI funders meeting in Nicosia, Cyprus, to connect with representatives of other LGBTI donor organizations. This has not only confirmed that the Foundation is becoming a household name among other organizations, but also that we have a crucial role to play. The combination of funding small initiatives and having relatively straightforward procedures, ensures that the Foundation serves as the stepping stone to other sources of funding, which is where we want to be. Our global scope, as well as our choice in priority themes, are appreciated and perceived as quite unique. This is a confirmation of our distinct position as a ‘small big funder’ within the LGBTI funding landscape.
Organizational developments
Report from the Management Board
In 2016, the Management Board maintained a regular frequency of meetings to safeguard the further development of the organizational structure, policy and strategy of the Foundation. The Management Board convened 10 times in 2016. In December, the term of appointment of both Renate Hartman and Jan Bouwens ended. At the end of 2016, the Management Board consisted of 4 members. Early 2017, a recruitment procedure was started, to appoint 2 new board members.
Report from the Supervisory Board
Preceding the Supervisory Board meetings, the board members conducted preparatory activities. The Supervisory Board convened 7 times in 2016. Four of these meetings were joined in part by the Management Board. In these meetings, the 2016 budget and the 2015 annual account were adopted, and also relevant policy and strategic developments of the Foundation were discussed. These activities are consistent with the tasks of the Supervisory Board.
In June 2016, the Supervisory Board was reinforced by the appointment of 2 new members. Johan Bos, Financial Engineer at the Economic Department of the City of Amsterdam and Raphaël van Kraaij, Executive Secretary at the Medical Center Zaandam, were appointed to the Supervisory Board. At the end of 2016, the Supervisory Board consisted of 4 members.
Full 2016 Annual Report
The full 2016 Annual Report is available for download.