72 per cent increase in executives paid over £100k a year at best known charities These revelations will lead to people who donate calling into question how charitable funds are spent. Charitable funds are meant to be used for charitable purposes - not for any personal gain or personal benefit. These are charities not businesses and they have a different set of rules and governances which is why it is important more than ever that there should be more transparency about donations and the way in which they are spent. Charlie Elphicke MP, who sits on the Public Administration Select Committee which oversees the charity sector, said: "I worry that out of control salaries and pay rises bring the whole voluntary sector into disrepute. It's an objectionable culture that can only dismay voluntary workers, discourage donors and harm the front line. Nearly half of the executives who are on £100,000 a year worked at the National Trust, where the numbers increased from 11 to 21 over the three year period. Analysis of the Trust's annual report and accounts showed that it also spent the most on a single employee in a single year - £219,999 in 2012. The Trust confirmed last night that the the individual was the Trust's former director general Dame Fiona Reynolds who left in November 2012. Its spokesman said: "During 2010 - 2012 we went through a large period of change and restructure which doesn't represent the norm. This included redundancies and a restructure to make our business more resilient for the future. In 2011 our senior staff at grades 1 and 2 received no pay increase reflecting the flat state of the UK economy. The RSPCA, which is under fire for using is prosecuting powers to target hunts, saw the sum paid to its highest paid employee increase from £109,999 a year to £159,999. The charity said this sum was not paid to its chief executive Gavin Grant, adding: "The RSPCA chief executive does not earn more than the Prime Minister of this country and none of the directors of the RSPCA have salaries in excess of £100,000 pa." A spokesperson said: "Our Chief Executive's annual salary is subject to regular independent review. It is within the parameters of the going rate for major UK charities, both animal welfare and other. Other big payers included World Wildlife Fund UK, which increased the pay for its chief executive David Nussbaum from £120,000 to £140,000. Andrew Flanagan, the NSPCC's chief executive, saw his pay increase from £160,000 to £170,000, while the number of staff on more than £60,000 jumped from 31 to 49. Shelter's chief executive Campbell Robb was paid £120,000 last year while the number of staff there paid over £60,000 increased from five to eight. Barnardo's saw its staff on more than £60,000 increase from 30 to 35, while the pay for its former chief executive Anne Marie Carrie pay fell from £169,999 to £159,999. An NSPCC spokesman said Mr Flanagan's pay had now been frozen until 2014. It said the big increase on those on over £60,000 a year was "down to a large number of new frontline services opening across the country and new senior staff being employed to design, open and run them." A Shelter spokesman said there had been an increase on those paid more than £60,000 because of a "strategic decision to recruit at that level." A Barnardo's spokesman said that the increase was "due to an expansion in our services and retail operations and other changes in our business requirements. No new appointments were made and in the last year this number has fallen to 32. The Telegraph disclosed on Tuesday details of the number of top executives at aid charities who were paid more than £100,000 a year. The research found that executives receiving six-figure salaries at Britain's leading aid charities, and those linked to them, rose by nearly 60 per cent from 19 to 30 over the past three years, while donations and revenues were down in many cases.