Reporting under the full RJ 650: annual accounts and board report for large fundraising organizations

Reporting under the full RJ 650: annual accounts and board report for large fundraising organizations

A fundraising organization with total income of €1,000,000 or more reports under RJ 650, the full Dutch standard for fundraising organizations. The standard prescribes fixed models for the balance sheet and the statement of income and expenses, a detailed cost-allocation disclosure, and a management report covering ten topics. In this page you will find what each of those parts must contain, with paragraph references to the official text.

Puzzle Piece How RJ 650 fits with the other rules

RJ 650 (2024 revision) applies to financial years starting on or after 1 January 2025. It is applied together with the general nonprofit chapter RJ 640; where they conflict, RJ 650 prevails, and for the management report RJ 650 is the complete set of rules. (§101–102)

Balance Scale The balance sheet

The balance sheet follows the model in Appendix (Bijlage) 1 of the standard, with assets in order of increasing liquidity and equity presented as reserves en fondsen: this equity may only be used for the organization's objective, which is why the standard avoids the term "own capital". (§202, §301, §303)
  • Reserves (board-controlled) are subdivided into: continuity reserve, statutory reserves, designated reserves (bestemmingsreserves), revaluation reserve, and other reserves. If a continuity reserve is held, the notes state the size the board considers necessary and the assumptions behind it. (§305–306)
  • Funds (bestemmingsfondsen, third-party restricted) sit separately from reserves. If a restriction falls away or a campaign raises more than its purpose needs, the surplus moves to other reserves (or, by board decision, a designated reserve) and this is disclosed. (§309–310)
For every reserve and fund, the notes show a movement schedule: opening balance, additions and withdrawals by nature, closing balance. (§304)
For each asset category, the notes state whether the assets are held for operations, for direct use in the objective, or as investment. (§302)

Chart Increasing The statement of income and expenses

The statement follows the model in Appendix (Bijlage) 2, with three columns: actual, budget of the reporting year, and prior year. Differences between budget and actual are analyzed in the notes or management report. (§301, §312)
Income is presented gross and split into at least eight categories: individuals, companies, lottery organizations, government subsidies, affiliated nonprofits, other nonprofits, income in return for products/services, and other income. Income that cannot be cleanly split (a gala with both individual and corporate giving) goes entirely to the most fitting category, with the amount and choice disclosed. (§311, §313)
Category specifics:
  • Individuals : the notes break this down into collections, bequests, membership fees, donations and gifts, own lotteries and prize draws, and other. (§314)
  • Government subsidies : only subsidies from governments (including the EU and comparable international bodies), also when routed via another organization under the same conditions. A subsidy with a repayment obligation is recognized as income only when the spending commitment is made; the notes state whether subsidies are incidental or structural. (§315) Link  Conditional grants: booking funding you might have to repay 
  • Products and services : presented at gross profit (net turnover minus cost price); the notes show all three components. If your organization sells to its target group below cost as part of its objective, the gross loss is presented under spent on objectives. (§316)
  • Financial income and expenses : one net line in the statement, with the notes breaking out interest income, interest expense, dividend, realized and unrealized price results, investment costs, and net investment result. (§317)
The allocation of the year's result to the reserves and funds is shown below the statement or in the notes. (§329)

Abacus Expenses: three categories and the cost specification

All expenses appear in three activity categories: spent on objectives, fundraising costs, and management & administration. (§318)
  • Spent on objectives is broken down per main objective, aligned with the statutory objectives and what fundraising communicates. Some notes to keep in mind: (§320–323, §325)
  • Organizations should present per objective: grants to third parties, costs of own activities, and outsourced work.
  • In case of subgranting, lapsed grant commitments should be visibly deducted → this can happen in cases where (part of) a grant is not fully paid out, as a result of a project being cancelled, conditions not being met or the recipient spending less than awarded.
  • Public education counts as an objective (not fundraising) only when it aims at awareness or behavior change, follows a consistent policy, and is a statutory objective; mixed education-and-fundraising activities may be split proportionally.
  • Fundraising costs are all costs of moving people and organizations to give, including communication costs unless they qualify as education. The notes state the ratio: fundraising costs divided by total raised income, as a percentage. (§324, §326)
  • Management & administration is what remains: internal control and administration not attributable to objectives or fundraising. (§327)
The notes specify all expenses by cost type across the three categories following the Appendix (Bijlage) 3 model (grants, transfers to affiliated organizations, purchases, outsourced work, communication, personnel, housing, office & general, depreciation), state the allocation method, and apply it consistently. Personnel costs are additionally split into wages, social charges, pension and other, with the average number of employees. (§319)
The often-quoted sector norms (roughly: most spending to objectives, fundraising ratio under ~15%, lean overhead) are benchmarks from the sector and the Erkenningsregeling, not requirements in RJ 650 itself; what RJ 650 requires is disclosing your intended and realized ratios in the management report. (§409)

Briefcase Director and supervisor remuneration

The notes disclose, for each individual current and former director and supervisor: remuneration including pension charges, contract hours and part-time percentage, plus any loans, advances or guarantees provided. (§328)

Memo The management report

The management report carries special weight because the societal value of the work barely shows in the numbers alone. It must cover ten topics (§403–416):
#
Topic
Core requirement
1
Objective, mission, vision
Statutory objective in outsider-friendly language (§405)
2
Structure & governance
Legal/group structure, names, roles and side positions of directors and supervisors, remuneration policy, codes of conduct, supervision, stakeholder communication policy (§406–407)
3
Goal realization & activities
Main goal, target group, programs, what was and wasn't achieved, and what that means for the multi-year plan; explain when multi-year commitments make booked spending diverge from actual outflows (§408)
4
Financial developments
Explanation on results during the year (one-off items separate), recurring vs one-off income, fundraising methods, intended vs realized spending ratios, reserve policy with the risk analysis behind the continuity reserve, and investment policy (goal, horizon, risk profile, sustainability criteria, governance, results) (§409)
5
Risks & risk management
Main risks across strategy, operations (incl. fraud), financial, reporting and compliance; risk appetite; measures and their expected effect; what materialized; system improvements (§411)
6
Culture, behavior & integrity
Soft controls, integrity policy (§412)
7
Financial instruments
Risk management policy for price, credit, liquidity and cash-flow risks, where material (§413)
8
Future expectations
Plans and major changes, plus a summarized budget for the coming year (§414)
9
Social aspects
Environmental, social, economic aspects of own operations and the chain, tailored to stakeholder needs (§415)
10
Other topics
Marketing, internal control, quality, IT, as relevant (§416)
If volunteer work is important to the organization, the management report must clearly mention it. Supervision must also be accounted for: a supervisory body (raad van toezicht) reports on its own supervision; without one, the management report explains how supervision is arranged instead. (§404)

Earth Globe Europe-Africa Consolidation

Foundations and associations cannot hold shares in each other, so consolidation means combining the annual accounts and eliminating mutual receivables, payables, income and expenses. The consolidated reserves then differ from the parent's, and a reconciliation overview explains the difference. A large fundraising organization cannot use the small-entity consolidation exemption. A Dutch entity of an international network applies RJ 650 in full and discloses transfers to, and support received from, the international network. (§102, §401–402)

Bullseye Success metrics to track

Metric
Target
Notes
Spent on objectives
≥70% of total expenses
Sector benchmark, not an RJ 650 requirement
Fundraising ratio
<15%
Fundraising costs ÷ sum of raised income; disclosing the realized percentage is mandatory (§326)
Management & administration
<10% of total expenses
Sector benchmark; set and disclose your own target (§409)
Continuity reserve coverage
Board-set, risk-based
Commonly expressed in months of operating costs; size and underlying assumptions disclosed (§306)
Chart of accounts alignment
100%
All reserve and fund categories mapped, so the Bijlage 1 model can be produced directly
Cost allocation methodology
Documented
Written method, applied consistently year over year (§319)
Management report completeness
10/10 topics
All required sections included (§404)

Pushpin Good to know

  • The models may be adapted where needed to reflect the organization's character, as long as insight improves. (§301)
  • Special case worth knowing: treatment of an asset financed by a dedicated fundraising campaign (§201) → See below example:
Minibus A campaign "help us buy a mobile clinic" raises €100k in 2025, and the van is bought that year (5-year life).
Money with Wings Expensing the van immediately would show €100k in, €100k out — clean, but wrong, because the van is an asset that serves five years, so the associated cost should be gradual depreciation.
Money BagCapitalizing it without further steps shows €100k income against only €20k depreciation — an €80k "surplus" that would land in free reserves, as if donor money were sitting around unspent. Donors gave for a van, not for the general reserve.
Check Mark Button The correct approach: the campaign income goes through the P&L, with year-end result allocation into a designated fund. The fund releases yearly in step with depreciation, maintaining the same rhythm on the income and costs side:
Fundraising funds in:             Van purchase:
ASSETS                            ASSETS
Liquid assets      +€100,000       Liquid assets      -€100,000
                                   Inventory          +€100,000
At year-end:
P&L:
  COSTS
    Depreciation       €20,000
  INCOME
    Donations          €20,000
  • Official text:  commissienormstelling.nl  and  rjnet.nl  .