Report of the Deaconess Foundation 2022 – A year of strategy implementation

For the Deaconess Foundation, 2022 was a year of active implementation of its strategy Together the Boldest. The strategy was conducted throughout the Group, both in its non-profit activities and business operations. Changes in the operating environment, such as the protracted Covid-19 pandemic, labour shortages, increasing inequality and the Ukraine war, highlighted the societal mission of the Deaconess Foundation.

The strategy was carried out within four priorities: bold influencer, national actor, united Deaconess Foundation, and being the work community of the future.

The Deaconess Foundation operates nationwide from the capital region to Rovaniemi. The social foundation group is a meaningful workplace for some 3 200 professionals who invest the work with professionalism and heart.

“Our goal is to be an influential and nationwide provider of social welfare and health services. Together with our clients and partners, we aim to influence how the lives of vulnerable people and people in need of special support are shaped in the Finnish welfare society. Despite the challenges posed by the continuing interest rate pandemic and the shortage of staff in the entire social and health care sector, both customer satisfaction and staff wellbeing at work increased. I consider this a significant achievement,” says Olli Holmström, CEO of the Deaconess Foundation.

In 2022, the Foundation reformed its organisation as part of its strategy implementation. Activities were organised into two divisions and limited companies producing training.

The diaconic and social responsibility division provides social welfare and health care services and activities aimed at restoring the individual’s experience of human dignity and increasing trust as a non-profit operation. The work is carried out with the most vulnerable people in our society. These services and activities are provided through external project funding, donations and self-financed non-profit activities. In 2022, there were 67 projects in 12 localities. In addition to Finland, work was carried out in 10 different countries. Project grants amounted to €8.8 million and the Foundation’s own contribution was €3.9 million.

In the social welfare services business operations, Rinnekoti, which belongs to the Deaconess Foundation, and the Deaconess Foundation’s Hoiva Ltd and Caritas Palvelut Ltd, which are owned by the Foundation, were merged into a single section as of 1 April 2022. The aim of the merger was to ensure the competitiveness of the enterprise in Finland’s new wellbeing services counties. By having a single strong business entity, the Deaconess Foundation will be better placed to provide effective social welfare and health services for people in need of special support throughout Finland. The service enterprise will be managed on a regional basis, in three different geographical areas. In 2022, external revenues amounted to €189 million and the operating result was €8.3 million. There were 140 Deaconess Foundation branches in a total of 20 localities.

Education: the Foundation is an active owner of the Diakonia College of Finland Ltd and the Diaconia University of Applied Sciences Ltd.

Watch the video: CEO Olli Holmström’s overview of 2022.

Key performance figures of the Deaconess Foundation Group:

• The Group’s operating income in 2022 was €233 million (€214 million in 2021).
• Group’s surplus for the financial period was €6 million (€17.6 million in 2021).
• Profit from ordinary activities was €2 million in surplus (€0.1 million in 2021).
• The market value of the Group’s investment securities at the end of 2022 was approximately €194 million (approximately €223 million in 2020). The market value of the Group’s real estate and forestry assets is approximately €150 million.
• Investments €11.5 million (€13.8 million in 2021)
• The Group’s equity ratio at the end of 2022 was 82% (82% in 2021)

The report of the Board of the Deaconess Foundation, including financial statements and the auditor’s report (in Finnish) , is attached (pdf).

Further information:

• CEO Olli Holmström, olli.holmstrom@hdl.fi, tel. 050 483 6313
• Director of Finance Jukka Rautavalta, Director of Finance, jukka.rautavalta@hdl.fi, tel. 040 753 2166
• Director of Communications and Sustainability Laura Niemi, laura.niemi@hdl.fi, tel. 050 373 8602