The brief: to translate the annual accounts for 2016 for Aidsfonds, a Dutch charity, from Dutch to English. The following is an extract from the 12,000-word document. 

The future

Expenditure on objectives is budgeted at € 48.4 million for 2017, compared to € 41.6 million in 2016. Following the initiation phase in 2016, our strategic partnerships with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be fully operational in 2017. This will lead to higher allocation on the related programmes than in 2016. We will also allocate some of the funds not used in 2016, creating a catch-up effect. Furthermore, we still expect to receive contributions from donors for RCNF which will be allocated in 2017. We have budgeted € 0.7 million for the new Dreams initiative, funded by the American government. Please see appendix 5 for the 2017 budget.

It is unclear to what extent the American government will continue to fund HIV and AIDS initiatives. This may impact the RCNF (€ 8.4 million) and Dreams (€ 1.3 million), as well as the amount of money available for new programmes. In due course, the composition of the new Dutch cabinet may also lead to policy and budget changes in the areas of sexual health and rights, and disease prevention. Because of these uncertainties, we are focusing a lot of attention on new methods to raise funds for our objectives.

We will spend a number of earmarked reserves in 2017, funding more grants, more initiatives in the areas of HIV and development cooperation, the ZOOM big data project, etc. Spending these reserves is reflected in the figure of minus € 4 million in the budget.

In terms of raising funds from private donations, we are investing in attracting and retaining donors to the ‘new’ Aidsfonds brand and in our loyalty strategy. These investments will be funded by the savings made by the merger of Aids Fonds and STOP AIDS NOW! Soa Aids Nederland’s initiatives will be bundled through areas of cooperation and an initiatives pool.

New guidelines for annual accounts come into force in 2017. See appendix 6 for an income statement for 2016 drawn up in accordance with the new guidelines.