Donations from Individuals

War Child can only continue its work thanks to all the public support and donations we receive - and in 2019 our individual supporters once again made a powerful contribution to our mission. Our total income from individual and public donations rose seven per cent year-on-year to reach €9.9 million over the course of 2019 - reflecting a level of public support that continues to leave us humbled. Thank you!

The number of people making one-off donations during the year reached 32,500 - 17,500 of these were direct donations to War Child and 15,000 came from supporting actions by third parties. In contrast, our total number of monthly donors dropped by 3 per cent. Nonetheless, across 2019 as a whole we enjoyed the support of approximately 87,500 Friends.

To thank our Friends for their loyal contribution to our mission we organised the Peace Sessions Festival on the International Day of Peace (21 September) at beach club De Staat in The Hague. The event saw us celebrate our friendship in the sun with music, games, food and laughter - as well as storytelling from Marco Borsato and World War II survivor Zoni Weisz.

Main Events for War Child

Four very special events significantly boosted revenues in 2019. A series of sold-out shows by our Goodwill Ambassador Marco Borsato saw 100 War Child volunteers sell PEACE, LOVE and MUSIC bracelets to crowds of fans at Rotterdam’s De Kuip stadium - generating more than €150,000 in sales.

The year also saw the second edition of the Ibiza event for War Child come to life. This exclusive event saw eighty guests enjoy a 2-star Michelin dinner prepared by Dutch chefs of the hour Soenil Bahadoer and Edwin Vinke at the breathtaking Tanit Beach restaurant on the island - generating some €225,000 in our name.

And #garrix4warchild - a sold-out concert by Dutch DJ and record producer and War Child's Famous Friend Martin Garrix in Amsterdam’s Paradiso - generated some €275,000 more. This is the second time that one of the world’s top DJ’s has backed our cause with a concert - this time joining forces with radio station Qmusic to run a highly successful SMS campaign that saw fans get a chance to win two tickets by donating straight to War Child.

Last but by no means least - Michaela DePrince - War Child Ambassador and Dutch National Ballet soloist - brought her international network of industry friends together in Amsterdam’s AFAS Live for sensational charity gala 'Dare to Dream' that raised over €500,000 in donations - enough to support more than 5,500 children for a whole year. The unique success of this event - which included world-renowned artists like Sam Smith and Brandi Carlile and an auction - is highlighted by the fact that 60 per cent of the costs were covered by in-kind gifts. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank Michaela - and all those who made the night possible - for their extraordinary contribution to our mission.

New and returning fundraising actions included our annual Kili Challenge - which saw over seventy volunteers scale Mount Kilimanjaro - and our participation in the ‘Dam tot Damloop’ road race. Once again, our partnership with fundraising initiative Plus1 saw musicians add €1 on top of their concert ticket sales - with a percentage of the proceeds going to War Child.