Charity Rip-Off
A Well Known development charity boasts about how much of their income they spend on projects in the field rather than admin. What they don't tell you is that those projects are then backcharged huge amounts for admin. A friend of mine discovered this when he was working for them in Africa. Want to buy a £4 spare part? Sure, that's authorised. Your project has been charged £35 for this authorisation. Have a nice day.

I've avoided that charity and their shops ever since I heard that. If you want to give money for development, folks, give it to Water Aid. They do just what you'd think and they spend bugger all on admin.
(ubergeekian, Mon 27 Feb 2012, 20:44, 31 replies)

avoid UNICEF as well...
I work in the sector, and they are one of the biggest wasters of money in the business.

Seeing the waste from these companies has really made me want to move job.
(The Kwyjibo A big, dumb, balding North American ape., Mon 27 Feb 2012, 20:49, closed)

Obviously, I've got no idea what charity you're talking about, and maybe they are pirates.
But some charities feel that their fundraising is damaged if they admit to spending money on admin, wages, rent, etc.
As if all that comes for free.
( Dr Preference AjcuiVd289, Mon 27 Feb 2012, 21:30, closed)

It's not always free
though I understand that most of Water Aid's admin is done for nothing by the water companies. However, there's "not free" and there's "providing well paid careers for armies of professional charity administration mercenaries" and I'd rather avoid charities which go in for the latter.

Incidentally, next time someone asks you for money for the RNLI, I suggest you ask (a) what they are planning to do with the half quarter of a billion they have in cash reserves and (b) why they employ 44 people on £60,000+ while lifeboat crews (who are real heroes, don't get me wrong) get seventy five quid per launch ...

Edited to correct over statements. They only have a quarter of a billion in the bank. Poor things.
(ubergeekian, Mon 27 Feb 2012, 21:59, closed)

Neither of these are charities I'm familiar with.
But I work for a charity myself. We provide professional services to vulnerable people. Because of this, people sometimes accuse us of "wasting money" on wages. Emotionally I understand the point, but we couldn't provide these services unless we paid for them. Relying on volunteers would never provide the continuity needed to deal with a single victim over a five or six year period.
( Dr Preference AjcuiVd289, Mon 27 Feb 2012, 22:05, closed)

That doesn't sound like a charity
It sounds like a commercial setup. You charge people for services carried out by paid staff. What's charitable about that?
(ubergeekian, Tue 28 Feb 2012, 9:30, closed)

I agree
Doesnt seem very charitble, it just seems like you offer a service. Just like any other company.
(Dan dan dan They tik urh jerbs!!!, Tue 28 Feb 2012, 10:09, closed)

"We provide professional services to vulnerable people."
I don't think the vulnerable people are charged for these services. The wages are paid to those who provide the service (so that they can live and continue to provide the service) from the money generated by the charity.

Giving someone something for nothing does seem pretty charitable to me. The fact that the goods or services being provided needs to be paid for by someone at some point shouldn't really be a surprise. The RNLI doesn't say "What the hell do you mean?! We assumed you'd just be giving us the new lifeboat!"
( Pig Bodine., Tue 28 Feb 2012, 12:15, closed)

OK, fair enough
If the charity raises the money from donations, shops or little old ladies' legacies then it's fine. The ones I don;t trust are those which get all their funding from national or local government contracts, pay their front line staff peanuts and their managers shedloads and then whine about being a charity.
(ubergeekian, Tue 28 Feb 2012, 15:39, closed)

More
A "Not for profit" service?
(Misery McUglywife an attention seeking sociopathic fuckstain., Tue 28 Feb 2012, 21:35, closed)

Half a Billion pounds in cash reserves?
Really? And scores of staff on £100k+? I think you should tell the Charities Commission because RNLI must be lying in their annual accounts.
( Ghoti Fingers, Mon 27 Feb 2012, 22:30, closed)

Thank you.
Figures amended.
(ubergeekian, Tue 28 Feb 2012, 9:59, closed)

Good morning
You're either, repeating something you heard down the pub, or you actually read the accounts and don't know the difference between cash and asset. Either way you're being a tard.
( Ring Of Fire A petty, drooling belming butthurt retard., Tue 28 Feb 2012, 7:03, closed)

I remember hearing something on the radio
about charities with large reserves. NSPCC and RNLI were the worst offenders, although they paled in comparison to the National Trust. Of course, the National Trust's worth is all tied up in property!
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Tue 28 Feb 2012, 9:00, closed)

Latest accounts
Long-term investments: £235.92m. OK, quarter of a billion rather than half a billion.

www.charity-commission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/CharityWithPartB.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=209603&SubsidiaryNumber=0
(ubergeekian, Tue 28 Feb 2012, 9:32, closed)

so you think long term investments are the same as cash reserves?

( Ring Of Fire A petty, drooling belming butthurt retard., Tue 28 Feb 2012, 12:51, closed)

Convertible easily enough
All they mean is "stuff we don;t need to use for immediate day to day spending"
(ubergeekian, Tue 28 Feb 2012, 15:40, closed)

OK. So it's not cash, and it's not half a billion, part apart from that you're absolutley right
If I was running a service like the lifeboats I’d do it by creating a revenue stream from a portfolio of investments, rather than go to the warehouse every month, prise the top off some collection buckets and hope they’ve got enough in them.

Which I guess is why you do what you do what you do, and other people are in charge of stuff.
( Ring Of Fire A petty, drooling belming butthurt retard., Tue 28 Feb 2012, 16:22, closed)

I worked with these guys:

www.kitchentablecharities.org/

Founded by John Humphries.
Fantastic philosophy, efficiency ratings, communications.

No ads, no paid overhead in the UK and most important of all: No chuggers.
( bierbelly, Mon 27 Feb 2012, 23:38, closed)

and no money!

(TheManWithThePlan cussed your mum on, Tue 28 Feb 2012, 9:01, closed)

A candidate for Member of Parliament
came knocking on my door asking for my vote. "What do you do in real life?" I asked.
He explained that he was a fund raising consultant.
I said that he was already well practiced at unscrupulous frauditry, skimming 40% off the donations of senile old women and would fit in well in parliament, but I wouldn't vote for him anyway because he was wearing one of those poncey yellow ties.
(the other guy not the one that gave you coochie warts, Tue 28 Feb 2012, 3:47, closed)

I like this.
Perhaps a little too much.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Tue 28 Feb 2012, 8:55, closed)

I refuse to give money to anybody who comes asking for it.
Including my in-laws.
I quite loudly proclaim this to any spruikers (link is for AB) that accost me in the street or in shopping centers.
I have had arguments where they have accused me essentially of being cheap or tight. These arguments have usually ended when I've asked them whether they are paid on retainer and commission or salary or they are unpaid volunteers. EDIT: Yes I know they get a shitty rate but you find very few who are volunteers or on salary - which means every $1 you put in the tin, they get a percentage. Hence my reticence to hand over my hard earned bucks to a charity that "employs" people to basically try and harrass you out of some change at your local shopping center.

I do give to charities - the one's I choose, when I choose to. Fortunately here in Oz every donation over $2 is tax deductible - so I get my warm and fuzzies whilst still being a stingy bastard.
2 excellent charities I donate to, if there are any benevolent billionaires out there looking for someone to bequeath their estate too -
www.cathaven.com.au/
www.swananimalhaven.asn.au/
EDIT: & in the interests of full disclosure, I work for neither of them.
(Misery McUglywife an attention seeking sociopathic fuckstain., Tue 28 Feb 2012, 7:52, closed)

Lots of waffle in this thread.
meantime, I have heard about another dodgy practice, and would be interested to know if there's any truth in this.

These bags that are posted through your door to collect old clothes, toys, whatever, with a charitys name all over them (NSPCC does it regularly) are actually just a commercial operation, sort of 'licenced' by the charity.

If I understand it, the operators just pay a cut of what they make to the charity. The stuff is recycled / exported / thrown in a canal. Suggestion is that the charity receive something like 5 - 10% of the proceeds.

Sounds iffy to me. I stopped filling the bags, I'd rather it went into a landfill.
(username failed moderation, Tue 28 Feb 2012, 9:01, closed)

Says the bagman.
They are usually bundled as "rags"and sold (fairly cheaply) to industry.
AFAIK they are sorted, which means if you're a regular op-shopper - beware, you might be buying back that cool Star Wars embossed t-shirt that only fitted you 15 years ago.
(Misery McUglywife an attention seeking sociopathic fuckstain., Tue 28 Feb 2012, 9:13, closed)

Again, based on heresay
these are not old rags, they're asking for good quality clean stuff.

It gets exported to places like Nigeria, and sold there. Not as rags.

They don't just ask for clothes. It's toys, shoes, small electrical appliances.

I could be completely wrong, but it sounds more than feasible.
(username failed moderation, Tue 28 Feb 2012, 9:37, closed)

Furry muff.
I think what I suggested happens here in Oz. I don't have any "inside knowledge".
So yeah - based on hearsay.
But having worked in a couple of places that bought rags off charities, rest assured that some pimply-faced teenager wont be buying your favorite Dr. Who t-shirt just 'cause it's cool.
EDIT: Over here it's illegal for then to accept *any* electrical goods - they can't test and tag them so they cannot sell them as safe. Even in Nigeria!
(Misery McUglywife an attention seeking sociopathic fuckstain., Tue 28 Feb 2012, 10:42, closed)

The Sally Ann got a bit of well-merited stick for this
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/8293443/Charity-Commission-examines-Salvation-Army-clothes-recycling-scheme.html
(ubergeekian, Tue 28 Feb 2012, 9:35, closed)

Yes it is true and it's a good idea to donate your bagged-up stuff directly to charity shops, instead

(IHateSprouts is baking a huge pie shaped like an enormous pie, Tue 28 Feb 2012, 16:25, closed)

WaterAid; 3.5 million on "support costs"
12.5 million on salaries (plus a further 1.5 million on pensions etc)

Out of a total of 50.8 million for the year.

I'm not saying they don't do a good job, but they shouldn't be all holier-than-thou.
( Ghoti Fingers, Tue 28 Feb 2012, 9:06, closed)

You piqued my curiosity
So I checked their annual accounts.

www.charity-commission.gov.uk/Accounts/Ends01/0000288701_ac_20110331_e_c.pdf

Finance, Human resources, IT and systems: £2.47m
Chief executive and internal audit: £0.23m
Premises and facilities: £0.858m

which gives total declared back-office costs of £3.55m. Section 6 shows that the chief executive received a total of £110,188 (salary and taxable benefits) and that only 8 out of 606 employees earned more than £60k in 2011.

Of course the accounts can, as I initially posted, hide all sorts of creative cash flows. That's why I place considerable weight on the assurance of a friend who worked for them in the field for many years that they really are a lean, well-focussed and efficient operation.
(ubergeekian, Tue 28 Feb 2012, 9:48, closed)

Indeed
And just below that on the same page is the salary information.

I have no problem with WaterAid or with RNLI, but if you look at the numbers they are all pretty much in line but RNLI are about 4 times as big.

The only thing that RNLI has that WaterAid doesn't is the investments which is just used as an income source. Nothing sinister and nothing unfair.
( Ghoti Fingers, Tue 28 Feb 2012, 18:27, closed)