Plan International vs Save the Children
In short: Plan International UK funds girls’ equality and child sponsorship programmes that Plan International Country Offices run. Save the Children UK funds child programmes delivered by Save the Children International and gives grants to UK families.
Last reviewed by CharityCompare editorial.
Both are UK members of international children’s organisations whose overseas programmes are mostly delivered by other parts of the federation. The difference is focus and UK presence: Plan International UK centres on girls and is phasing out its UK programmes, while Save the Children UK funds grants for UK families alongside overseas work. Their financial years end in June and December 2025.
Plan International vs Save the Children: key differences
| What to compare | PLAN INTERNATIONAL UK | THE SAVE THE CHILDREN FUND |
|---|---|---|
| Registered work and operating model | Children’s rights and equality for girls, funded from the UK and delivered mainly by Plan International Country Offices. | Children’s welfare and relief overseas through Save the Children International, plus UK programmes for families. |
| What to consider | Its 1.18 million people directly supported covers whole projects it part-funds, not an attributable share. Its accounts give two different measures of money sent to Plan International, so check which one a figure uses. | Its headline 37.8 million children is a movement-wide total for 92 countries, not the UK charity’s own. It is one of 17 members that finance international programmes, and in 2025 it transferred £129,372,000 to Save the Children International for programme delivery. |
| Access and practical checks | You can give through child sponsorship, which had 54,311 UK sponsors in 2024/25. It has decided to phase out programmes with and for girls in the UK, so check where a UK appeal’s money goes. | Overseas gifts go through named appeals; check the country and any restriction. In the UK, Family Grants of £300 reach families in crisis through partner organisations. |
| Sourced result or evidence gap | 1.18 million: People directly supported, 65% of them girls and women. Year to 30 June 2025, 54 projects in 45 countries. A charity-reported output for whole projects, which other Plan members and partners also funded. | 37.8 million: Children directly supported by the global Save the Children movement. 2025, 92 countries. A charity-reported, movement-wide output with no breakdown for the UK member; in the UK, Family Grants supported more than 2,800 children. |
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 | PLAN INTERNATIONAL UK | THE SAVE THE CHILDREN FUND |
|---|---|---|
| Latest accounts year in our snapshot | 2025 | 2025 |
| Financial snapshot refreshed | 2026-09-06 | 2026-09-06 |
| Ratio reporting window | 3-yr avg | 3-yr avg |
| Overall score | 76/100 (4★) | 80/100 (4★) |
| Accountability & Finance | 100/100 | 100/100 |
| Spend on charitable activities | 86% of expenditure | 86% of expenditure |
| Fundraising efficiency | £7.5 total income per £1 fundraising (2023–2025, disclosed years) | £7.4 total income per £1 fundraising (2023–2025, disclosed years) |
| Cost to raise £1 of donations | Not shown for 2025: trading income was 24% of donations | Not shown for 2025: trading income was 13% of donations |
| Latest income | £62m | £263m |
| Fundraising spend | 13% of expenditure | 13% of expenditure |
| Reserves | 3 months | 2 months |
| Accounts filing | On time | On time |
| Data confidence | high | high |
| Charity number | 276035 | 213890 |
PLAN INTERNATIONAL UK on the register · THE SAVE THE CHILDREN FUND on the register
Considering Plan International UK
- You want to fund children’s rights and equality for girls through a charity with no religious, political or government affiliation.
- You want to sponsor a child; Plan says support reaches the whole community, sponsored or not.
Considering Save the Children UK
- You want to fund child programmes in many countries through the Save the Children movement, including humanitarian response.
- You also want to help UK families in crisis through its grants programmes.
Plan International vs Save the Children: questions answered
Plan International or Save the Children: which should I support?
There is no universal winner. Plan International UK focuses on children’s rights and equality for girls, mostly overseas; Save the Children UK funds the Save the Children movement’s programmes and also runs UK grants for families. Choose the focus and route you prefer, then check the appeal and accounts period. A financial rating is not an impact assessment.
Is Plan International UK the same as Plan International?
It is one of 22 National Organisations that are members of Plan International Inc, a not-for-profit organisation incorporated in the USA. Programme delivery is primarily through Plan International Inc’s Country Offices; Plan International UK works with them to design, support and seek funding for programmes.
Do Plan International UK and Save the Children UK work in the UK?
Save the Children UK runs UK programmes such as Family Grants, which supported more than 2,800 children in 2025. Plan International UK’s 2025 report says it has decided to phase out programmes with and for girls in the UK; it reports 6,345 UK campaigners.
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.