We’re delighted to present our budget for the twelve months from August 2026 to July 2027. Here’s what’s behind it.
Following the 2025-27 business plan
IP Inclusive works to a two-year business plan. We’re currently following the plan for 2025-27, which focuses on supporting and developing the IP Inclusive community. Under that plan, our various networks have been organising a wide range of activities, many of them joint projects between two or more groups. We’ve also made significant progress towards creating two new communities, one for business support professionals (which we expect to launch towards the end of 2026) and one for men in IP. We’re undertaking a review of our EDI Charter and Senior Leaders’ Pledge, seeking input from across our support base about how best to use the two schemes to increase engagement levels. And we’re continuing our efforts to widen the pipeline of people joining the IP professions: our Careers in Ideas Mentoring Hub is thriving again, and its 2026 Summer of IP campaign is in full swing and as popular as ever among would-be recruits.
Importantly, our executive team members Anne Burgato and Helen Smith have been expanding their roles and working harder than ever to support IP Inclusive’s many amazing volunteers. Staffing costs, as ever, make up a significant proportion of our budget – they are well worth it.
Challenging times for our finances
The last twelve months have been challenging for us, however, on the fundraising front. Sadly, we didn’t manage to raise as much as we’d hoped to cover our 2025-26 operating costs, leaving us with a theoretical deficit as we enter the next budgeting year. Nor have we been able to bring in donations for our now much-needed website upgrade. We hope to do better next year.
In the meantime, we manage our finances carefully, only spending when we know we have the funds, and retaining a ring-fenced contingency fund to cover an orderly wind-down should the worst happen. We don’t expect to have to use that, but it’s reassuring to know it’s there.
There is little we can do to cut our already tight budget and we feel it’s important to continue to strengthen our small but increasingly crucial executive team, in view of the support they provide to that all-important community of volunteers. We are also still committed to providing our events and resources free at the point of delivery, which both safeguards inclusivity and reduces administrative costs.
Please donate!
… And so we must continue to ask IP professionals, and their businesses, to give as much as they can spare to help us keep the show on the road.
Our 2025 Impact Report showcases how much we’ve been able to achieve and the value we bring to the UK’s IP sector. None of us wants to see that come to an end.
We’ll be starting our next fundraising round soon, with a target of £108,000. Please help us reach that target so that IP Inclusive can continue.
As with any small business, cash flow is our biggest concern. We’d therefore be grateful if you could donate early on in this budgeting year – or even better if you could pledge an annual donation to help with our forecasting and reduce the burden of chasing funds.
More information
There’s information on how to donate on our fundraising page.
By way of background, do take a look at our 2025 Annual Report, and our Lead Executive Officer’s reports for 1Q 2026 and 2Q 2026, which show just how much IP Inclusive has been doing over the last twelve months.
You can access all of IPIM’s financial reports and budgets in this IP Inclusive finances post.
Page published on 31st July 2026
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