December 31, 2021
Akademos Society is a registered charity organisation which provides financial assistance to students facing economic and social disadvantage. In year 2020-21, Akademos’ operations comprised of four main programs: Akademos Scholarship; Kids Off The Streets; Akademos Study Grants and Najiba-Akademos Computer Lab which is part of our Akademos Supplementary Learning Classes program. At Akademos, we are committed to our core principles of transparency and accountability. In practice this means that we keep our donors, supporters and members of the wider community informed about our operations and significant financial matters on a regular basis; that we are open to audit requests from our supporters and relevant community organisations; and that we are fully accountable for our decisions.
Financial Summary
Like many organisations, 2020-21 was an unprecedented year for Akademos and our program beneficiaries due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on operability of educational activities and institutions. In this challenging period, Akademos continued to provide assistance to our scholarship and grant recipients so they could continue their education, albeit in a hybrid system of online and in-person classes. Similarly, Akademos continued to receive donations from our generous supporters which helped us sustain our programs throughout the year.
Owing to reduced revenue and significant increase in expenses, the surplus for the financial year (FY) 2020-21 is $3,742 which is significantly lower than last year’s surplus (2019–20: $15,727).
In FY 2020-21, our revenue decreased by 2% from last year — this was driven by a substantial decrease in the number of people giving one-off donations through the annual donation campaign (-50%) due to COVID-19 pandemic, partially offset by increase in donations received from regular donors (+80%), and community organisations and businesses (+25%). The increase in the number of regular donors demonstrates the trust that members of the community place on Akademos’ work. During the year, Akademos partnered with Najiba Foundation to establish a fully resourced computer lab in one of the most impoverished province of Afghanistan, namely Daikundi province. We also started the Akademos Study Grant (ASG) program which provides financial assistance to tertiary students who are otherwise unable to complete their university education due to adverse socio-economic circumstances. Our operating expenses substantially increased by 78% for the year, largely due to expenses associated with establishment of the new Computer Lab and commencement of the ASG program. 91% of the expenses were direct financial assistance provided to 35 students in our different programs, and funding for the Computer Lab. A detailed breakdown of all revenues and expenses are provided in the Notes to the Financial Report section of this report.
The 2020-21 financial report was unanimously approved by Akademos board and executive members.
Read the full report by downloading it from here (Download)