Annual Report 2019

Commentary on the annual financial statement
Generous foundations
and institutions
Mission 21 was again able to increase
the funding allocated to programme
and project work in 2019. We were able
to use more than CHF 10 million for
these purposes. Donations were within
the budgeted range and it was encouraging
that they increased by well over
three percent year-on-year.
Mission 21’s income from donations increased in
2019. This growth is due to institutional donors
in particular. It is extremely encouraging that
foundations and institutions are increasingly
placing their trust in Mission 21 by making generous
contributions to support our projects.
Private donors also continue to make a major
contribution towards financing Mission 21’s
project and programme expenditure. Since most
of these donors have close ties with church circles,
it is evident that Mission 21’s income from
private donations is diminishing in parallel with
the decrease in numbers of church members. Income
from donations by church congregations
and bazaar groups is also experiencing a slight
downturn. The total quota of donations from
the church sector continues to be important for
Mission 21, given that they account for almost
56% of all donations.
In 2019, Mission 21 increased the amount of
funding allocated to its programme and project
work. The figure for peace promotion rose by almost
six percent to reach a total of CHF 678 734.
In the agriculture and livelihood security segment,
the expenditure of funds increased by
one third: a total of CHF 1 034 429 was spent on
these activities. These increases in expenditure
coupled with declining income caused spending
to exceed income by about one million francs in
2019; this shortfall was covered by withdrawals
from funds and capital, and from the financial
result.
We wish to offer our sincere thanks to all
private donors as well as the many church
congregations and institutions that support
Mission 21’s ongoing development cooperation;
special thanks go to the Agency for Development
and Cooperation of the Swiss Confederation
(SDC), the cantonal churches and the Protestant
Church in Switzerland (PCS; known as the
Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches (FSPC)
until 31 December 2019). Huge thanks are also
due to the generous foundations and political
municipalities, and other friendly institutions
and sister organisations. Through their contributions,
all of them play their part in enabling
Mission 21 to continue its programme and project
work in an effective manner.
The Internal Control System (ICS) is based on
a risk-oriented approach; it ensures the reliability
of financial reporting and compliance with
the necessary legal provisions or recommendations
from experts. The report by the auditors,
PricewaterhouseCoopers, attests that the accounts
and the annual financial statement conform
to the law, the articles of association and
the SWISS-GAAP-FER-21 guidelines. We shall be
glad to send the detailed annual financial statement
and the balance sheet to anyone interested
in receiving them.
Patrick Hascher
Head of Finance
In the Democratic
Republic of the Congo,
Mission 21's partner
church is supporting
ecological vegetable
cultivation.
Photograph: Christian
Weber/Mission 21
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