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If you spend a few minutes digging into the accounts (https://static.raspberrypi.org/files/about/RaspberryPiFoundationReport2020.pdf https://static.raspberrypi.

If you spend a few minutes digging into the accounts (https://static.raspberrypi.org/files/about/RaspberryPiFoundationReport2020.pdf https://static.raspberrypi.org/files/about/RaspberryPiFounda...) this appears to have a reasonable explanation. The other 90% gets classed as 'fund-raising', what is actually is is money going into raspberry pi trading. rpi trading made a profit of around £10m which goes back as income into the charity and has mostly been spent on charitable activities. I'm not an accountant and don't have time to go over the details to check but it appears that the charity gets all sales income. This then goes to the trading arm to pay for its expenses, leaving a profit which goes straight back to the charity. The majority of which is being spent on their charitable activities, which moderate sums presumably being kept back to aid reserve building. Trading exists to make the charity money, money the charity then spends on its charitable aims.

mytailorisrich 5y ago
Your explanation does not make sense. If the commercial subsidiary is here to make them money then it should appear under "income", not "expenditure", and it probably does just not explicitly in that pie chart (it's probably under 'other' or 'other trading activities'). Expenditure is what the charity spends its money on, that is, costs (offices, personel, fund-raising activities, etc) and charitable activities. Anyone donating to a charity wants as much money as possible going to charitable activities. We could look at another charity to compare. Off the top of my head, a famous one I know is Crisis (homeless charity) [1]: Record shows 50%+ of income spent on charitable activities, which does make Raspberry Pi Foundation's numbers look quite unimpressive. [1] https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/charity-details/3974328 https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/chari...
- gchadwick 5y ago
  The explanation comes from the accounts I linked to which give more details than the pie chart. > If the trading arm is there to make them money then it should appear under "income", not "expenditure" It does see page 15 (PDF page 17), the foundation lists an income of £71,436,388 from 'Other trading activities', if you follow the note (3) it clarifies that this is entirely from rpi trading. A bunch of money then goes on to expenditure to cover the trading arm's costs. Which are indeed substantial as it's an engineering organization with lots of production to pay for along with staff salaries and other R&D costs, these are broken down in note 6, page 28 (PDF page 30). The profit the trading arm makes then comes back to the foundation which is shown in note 5, page 27 (PDF page 29) as 'other income' So yes it is a little complex, you've got the flow of revenue coming into the foundation, out to trading then back in again but it doesn't look like there's any untoward going on. Simply the charity is taking the strategy of running a profit making company to fund its charitable activities.
  - mytailorisrich 5y ago
    OK, so the accounts of the foundation conflate the foundation and the trading subsidiary. That's complex, indeed. Considering that the raspberry pi product is developed by the commercial subsidiary and sold commercial this at best muddies the water, and is very misleading.

mytailorisrich 5y ago

Your explanation does not make sense. If the commercial subsidiary is here to make them money then it should appear under "income", not "expenditure", and it probably does just not explicitly in that pie chart (it's probably under 'other' or 'other trading activities'). Expenditure is what the charity spends its money on, that is, costs (offices, personel, fund-raising activities, etc) and charitable activities. Anyone donating to a charity wants as much money as possible going to charitable activities. We could look at another charity to compare. Off the top of my head, a famous one I know is Crisis (homeless charity) [1]: Record shows 50%+ of income spent on charitable activities, which does make Raspberry Pi Foundation's numbers look quite unimpressive. [1] https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/charity-details/3974328 https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/chari...

gchadwick 5y ago
The explanation comes from the accounts I linked to which give more details than the pie chart. > If the trading arm is there to make them money then it should appear under "income", not "expenditure" It does see page 15 (PDF page 17), the foundation lists an income of £71,436,388 from 'Other trading activities', if you follow the note (3) it clarifies that this is entirely from rpi trading. A bunch of money then goes on to expenditure to cover the trading arm's costs. Which are indeed substantial as it's an engineering organization with lots of production to pay for along with staff salaries and other R&D costs, these are broken down in note 6, page 28 (PDF page 30). The profit the trading arm makes then comes back to the foundation which is shown in note 5, page 27 (PDF page 29) as 'other income' So yes it is a little complex, you've got the flow of revenue coming into the foundation, out to trading then back in again but it doesn't look like there's any untoward going on. Simply the charity is taking the strategy of running a profit making company to fund its charitable activities.
- mytailorisrich 5y ago
  OK, so the accounts of the foundation conflate the foundation and the trading subsidiary. That's complex, indeed. Considering that the raspberry pi product is developed by the commercial subsidiary and sold commercial this at best muddies the water, and is very misleading.