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, 3 replies)

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)