Chugging

I'm afraid, I am so annoyed by everyone now wanting you cash that I've let giving slide a bit as I need a list of charities whos only paid employees are those who directly work on organising the volunteers or doing important things directly for the cause. OK you may say, you need a fund raising person. I counter, maybe you do, but you also need a code of ethics on what is acceptable about fund raising. I get a bit annoyed, for example when a charity offers a free will writing service with the proviso that you leave them a lot of money of course. legacy management they call it.

The fact of the matter is that the only charities worth giving to are those directly helping make the lot of the affected people better. Its all well and good giving to research, but after a drug is developed, and its usually one of the big companies which does it, the cost in the first few years has no bearing on the cost of the manufacturer, and is mostly either recouping dev costs or making money for shareholders. Something should be done about this and the way some countries deliberately assume that charities will pick up the pieces for their ill run administrations that got them in a mass in the first instance. Brian

Reply to
Brian-Gaff
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Well what do you expect? The dosh is also needed to fund research into the next drug. Most drugs never make it to market due to some bad side-effect or other.

Reply to
Tim Streater

Sounds like you want to look at small local charities.

Research is also important, see Susana for a good example of that.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com scribbled

Charities attract bad 'uns. The smaller charities don't have experienced directors who check the accounts and ask questions about spending. Because they are 'good' people, they expect others involved will also be like minded.

How bad is charity fraud - read this

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Google 'charity fraud' and see how many hits you get.

Reply to
Jonno

Really and you have proof of this not happening?

Reply to
Weatherlawyer

Because my wife works in an Age Concern shop and has done for about 4 years. Whenever stuff gets brought in, no particular person attends and sorts it out. The manager rarely does it because she is normally doing managerial tasks.

Reply to
Bod

But, as trustees they are required to - by law.

I know of one charity - a nearby Village Hall - where the trustees are being investigated by the Fraud Squad because they didn't bother to carry out their legal responsibilities.

Reply to
charles

No, if you're solely there to make money a charity is far from the most likely way to achieve that

nonsense, in the overwhelming majority of cases. Any organisation in any sector that doesn't keep an eye on what gets spent is not going to survive.

People fail in all sectors. There are ways to find and stop that. Charities are far more open to public scrutiny than private profit making businesses.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

Such as doing a private eBay auction.

Reply to
ARW

charles posted

Tell us more about the suspected fraud?

Reply to
Big Les Wade

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com scribbled

It is, if you set up your own charity

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See the above, the trustees stuck their heads in the sand when questions were asked.

They are not as open as you think.

Reply to
Jonno

They didn't bother to send their annual accounts to the Charities Commission for a number of years. There was no fraud - they just didn't think it mattered, despite reminders.

Reply to
charles

If you care about these things it is worth checking the charity registration details to see what percentage of the funds that they raise are spent on the cause they are supposed to support. I tend to favour those run by volunteers where a very high fraction of income goes to support medical research or other good causes.

Certain well known larger charities are known to be complete b*stards.

Neither are they "volunteers" they are paid a pittance by the parasitic organisations that do fund raising for various major charities. If you visit the same target area regularly you will see the same chuggers sporting vests for a range of different charities that use them.

The charity pays them a fee for every DD mandate they harvest.

Reply to
Martin Brown

You should check the proportion of money going to the good cause. They vary enormously. Many smaller charities rely on unpaid volunteers even some bigger ones have unpaid directors who do it to raise money for their medical research without taking any payment from the charity.

Yes but only with a level of diligence appropriate to the amounts of money being spent. Most village halls subsist on under £10k a year and there isn't much scope for gratuitous spending after the insurance, utility bills and regular maintenance costs have all been paid.

Most village halls are operating on sufficiently tight budgets and with entirely unpaid volunteers that the foot and mouth epidemic nearly wiped many out when no events could be held for most of a year.

I have never known the charity commission do more than write a please send us your accounts missive. However, failure to file them in a timely manner will make getting grants more or less impossible.

That sounds like a gratuitous waste of police time unless a serious amount of money >20k was involved.

The height of idiocy is that parish councils more than a third of which in North Yorkshire have a turnover of *under* £1000 are audited once locally by an accountant and then nationally by a respected firm of top city accountants whose cheapest junior clerk won't get out of bed for less than £100/hr. How is that good value for money?

You can easily account for the bulk of most these PC budgets as grit replenishment, insurance, grass cutting and room hire. (in approximate order of cost)

Reply to
Martin Brown

How many years and on what size of budget?

I know of tiny charities that haven't done that for five years in a row and nothing ever happened to them. I view the charities commission as well meaning but basically just another toothless watchdog.

Look how long it took them to get their act together for CIOs!

Reply to
Martin Brown

If your turnover is below a certain level (£500,000?) you don't have to send detailed accounts to the CC anyway, just a bare statement of income and expenditure.

Reply to
Big Les Wade

Our current year's budget is £38k - but perhaps because we are in the SE. Even with small budgets fraud can occur in placing contacts.

I understand that the refusal to submit accounts went on for some years. This gave rise to a suspicion theat "they were up to something".

It isn't. But why are they having their accounts "Audited"? Under £100,000 they only need to "examined" which can be done by almost anyone.

Reply to
charles

Have you thought about Charities Aid Foundation (CAF)? I route most of my charitable giving through them - they do take about 4% admin, but add in Gift Aid to the amount you donate, which is then available to donate, anonymously if you wish, to any registered UK charity.

This has a secondary benefit, when you get door collections - you write a CAF 'cheque' and this can only be credited to a bona fide charity, rather than the unfortunate risk of the collector walking off with your money (it does happen).

Paul R

Reply to
Paul R

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Below £10k I don't think they even bother to look at submissions or do anything beyond an automatic reminder (this covers most village halls).

Below £25k you just have to send them bare income & expenditure (but as I said earlier failure to do that makes it impossible to comply with the strict requirements for obtaining Lottery Grants etc.).

£25k to £500k is summary accounts and local audit report. Above that limit proper scrutinised financial reporting and detail is required.

Unless of course your charity is called "Kids Company" that is...

Reply to
Martin Brown

In your part of the country. Round here £40-50k is more normal. The one of which I am a trustee is £36k this year and was £64k last year because of capital works.

Reply to
charles

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