Islamic Relief vs Penny Appeal
In short: Islamic Relief Worldwide runs relief and development from the Islamic Relief federation’s international office and says it has no 100% donation policy. Penny Appeal funds water, food, orphan and emergency work through partners and offers a 100% Zakat policy.
Last reviewed by CharityCompare editorial.
Both collect Zakat for relief work, but describe its costs differently. Islamic Relief says it does not have a 100% donation policy, and its Zakat policy allows it to use up to 12.5% of Zakat for delivery costs. Penny Appeal says it takes no administration or fundraising fees from Zakat, though its partners may deduct up to 12.5%. Their latest reports cover 2025 and 2024.
Islamic Relief vs Penny Appeal: key differences
| What to compare | ISLAMIC RELIEF WORLDWIDE | PENNY APPEAL |
|---|---|---|
| Registered work and operating model | Emergency relief, development and orphan sponsorship from the Islamic Relief federation’s international office, fundraising in the UK as Islamic Relief UK. | Water, food, orphan care, education, eye care and emergency programmes delivered mainly through partners, plus a UK community kitchen. |
| What to consider | It reports 13,132,741 people directly reached in 41 countries in 2025, after allowing for people reached more than once. Its income includes £138 million passed on by independent member offices abroad. | Its 2024 report gives spending but no figure for people reached, and website totals of 50 million and 59.6 million beneficiaries are undated and undefined. Charitable spending fell to £10,260,387 in 2024 from £17,304,511 in 2023. |
| Access and practical checks | Its website describes taking 12.5% of Zakat to administer it, and its Zakat policy caps that share at 12.5% and excludes fundraising and governance costs. It currently gives Zakat to Muslims only, a policy it says is under review. | Its 100% Zakat policy takes no Penny Appeal administration or fundraising fees from Zakat, though its disclaimer says partners may deduct up to 12.5%. It takes a small percentage of non-Zakat gifts for administration. |
| Sourced result or evidence gap | 13,132,741: People directly reached across its programmes. 2025, 41 countries. A charity-reported output that allows for repeat reach; its programme table lists 100,283 people reached through orphan sponsorship. | No people-reached figure is given in its 2024 report. It reports £10,260,387 of charitable spending in 2024, including £2,785,013 on orphans, and over 41,000 water systems and wells installed since its water programme began. These are inputs and cumulative outputs. |
What the latest filings show
Figures from the accounts held in our dated dataset; the live register may contain newer filings. Ratios can span multiple years, as labelled. Clarity scores use our methodology. Cost to raise £1 of donations is not part of the score; legacies make it lumpy, and it is withheld where trading costs would distort it (how it works).
| Metric | ISLAMIC RELIEF WORLDWIDE | PENNY APPEAL |
|---|---|---|
| Latest accounts year in our snapshot | 2024 | 2024 |
| Financial snapshot refreshed | 2026-09-06 | 2026-09-06 |
| Ratio reporting window | 3-yr avg | 3-yr avg |
| Overall score | 93/100 (5★) | 69/100 (3★) |
| Accountability & Finance | 100/100 | 100/100 |
| Spend on charitable activities | 91% of expenditure | 72% of expenditure |
| Fundraising efficiency | £14.9 total income per £1 fundraising (2022–2024, disclosed years) | £3.5 total income per £1 fundraising (2022–2024, disclosed years) |
| Cost to raise £1 of donations | 8p per £1 (2024) · 7p over 2022–2024 | 28p per £1 (2024) · 30p over 2022–2024 |
| Latest income | £276m | £13m |
| Fundraising spend | 7% of expenditure | 28% of expenditure |
| Reserves | 2 months | 4 months |
| Accounts filing | On time | On time |
| Data confidence | high | high |
| Charity number | 328158 | 1128341 |
ISLAMIC RELIEF WORLDWIDE on the register · PENNY APPEAL on the register
Considering Islamic Relief Worldwide
- You want to give through the Islamic Relief federation’s international office, with programmes in 41 countries.
- You are comfortable with up to 12.5% of Zakat covering delivery costs, as its Zakat policy sets out.
Considering Penny Appeal
- You want Penny Appeal’s 100% Zakat policy, under which it takes no administration or fundraising fees from Zakat.
- You want to sponsor one specific orphan, alone or with seven other donors.
Islamic Relief vs Penny Appeal: questions answered
Islamic Relief or Penny Appeal: which should I support?
There is no universal winner. Islamic Relief runs relief and development across 41 countries from the federation’s international office; Penny Appeal funds water, food, orphan and emergency programmes through partners. Compare their Zakat policies, check the appeal and the accounts period. A financial rating is not an impact assessment.
Does Islamic Relief or Penny Appeal have a 100% donation policy?
Penny Appeal has a 100% Zakat policy: it says it takes no administration or fundraising fees from Zakat, though its disclaimer says partners may deduct up to 12.5%, and it takes a small percentage of non-Zakat gifts for administration. Islamic Relief says it does not have a 100% donation policy and describes taking 12.5% of Zakat to administer it.
Who can receive Zakat through each charity?
Islamic Relief says it currently gives Zakat to Muslims only, a policy under review, and uses it in the UK and overseas. Penny Appeal says Zakat goes to eligible recipients and to projects it has assessed as Zakat-eligible, and that eligibility can vary, so check the appeal before donating.
How we score charities +
The Clarity Score is a 100-point rating from UK regulator filings (Charity Commission for England and Wales, OSCR and CCNI). Four pillars — Accountability & Transparency (40), Financial Health (30), Financial Efficiency (20), and Community Support (10) — each scored on a continuous scale, not pass/fail cutoffs. A statutory inquiry sets the score to 0 automatically.
Accountability & Transparency
Scored from filings
40 points — filing history (15), trustee oversight (15, scaling up to a board of three or more), declared policies (10).
Financial Health
Scored from filings
30 points — reserves (15, full marks 3–24 months, tapering on both sides), income stability (10), liabilities to assets (5, scaling down as debt rises).
Financial Efficiency
Scored from filings
20 points — program expense ratio and fundraising cost, each on a graduated scale (not a single cutoff). Kept at 20% of the total: financial-ratio scoring alone is not a reliable effectiveness signal (see "why not just an overhead ratio?" below).
Community Support
Scored from filings
10 points — volunteer-to-staff ratio from Charity Commission workforce data, scaling continuously up to a 2:1 ratio.
Overall score
Sum of all pillar points. Display stars use the same bands as the labels: 90–100 → 5★ Exceptional; 75–89 → 4★ Good; 60–74 → 3★ Needs improvement; 1–59 → 2★ Poor; 0 → not rated.