Income at WWF-UK grew by about 4 per cent last year, from £80.8m to £84.4m, new figures show.
The charity also spent £82m in the year to June 2021, up from £78m, according to its latest annual accounts, which were filed with Companies House today.
The additional income was driven by a rise in corporate donations from £7.4m in 2019/20 to £10.8m last year, while income from charitable trusts more than doubled from £2.1m to £4.5m. Public donations rose slightly, from £42.1m to £42.8m.
During the same period, the number of staff employed by WWF-UK rose by 13 per cent, with the average number of full-time equivalent employees going up from 346 to 392.
Wages and salaries increased to £16.9m, compared with £15.4m the previous year.
Spending on charitable aims was just under £62m, once fundraising costs had been removed.
Chief executive Tanya Steele took a pay cut in 2019/20, but her compensation increased again last year to £141,522.
The charity described the accounts as “generally positive”, but acknowledged that 2020/21 had been “a challenging year as a growing organisation, particularly dealing with the implications of Covid-19 and an increased workload for staff”.
Writing in the introduction to the accounts, Dave Lewis, the charity’s chair of trustees, said: “I believe WWF is now in the best possible shape to spearhead truly transformational changes and protect the world we all rely on for our survival.”
Steele described the year as “turbulent”, and thanked supporters for their “fantastic commitment” to the charity.
Its financial performance in 2020/21 “was above the level of funds budgeted and has helped us to increase our charitable spend by more than £2m”.
WWF-UK reported a £15m increase in income the previous year, driven by a surge in its membership.