Are charities a business?
 

Are some conning us?
are some taking big cuts for themselves?
are people suffering needlessly when charities that are supposed to be there to cancel the suffering, have millions of pounds in charity money in their bank accounts but they're not using it for the reason it's meant for?

Re: Are charities a business?
 

I'd say most charities have had to "professionalise" over the last 10-15 years, as government funding and funding in general becomes more of a challenge, However, I do still think the vast majority of charities are there to do charitable work.

There are of course a few who are basically tax dodges, and some that may prioritise spending differently to how you'd expect, but at the end of the day if you're generating profits for shareholders, you're not a charity.

Re: Are charities a business?
 

Biggest tax scam around is charitable foundations.

Big charities have CEO's on pay scales similar to corporations

Charity shops are no longer somewhere to go for something cheap, the only difference between them and normal shops is their rent is cheaper and the staff work for free

Appeals for disasters adverts appear on the TV as an emergency as people are dying despite the charities sitting on millions of pounds, use that, oh no you can't because it's set aside for future project and fundraising etc. Make no mistake charity is big business these days imo

Re: Are charities a business?
 

That's how I see it.
it's like the RSPCA started out with £1 say.
people donated money to look after animals. and the money is there to treat the animals. that's what the donating people want it to be used for.

but they have millions of pounds of that very money sitting in their bank. and telling people that they have to pay for treatment.

use the money that you have in the bank that was once only £1?
no. that's not what it's there for.

same with "disasters and people dying"
they're going to die as from today if we don't donate.
even though they have millions of pounds of the very same money they asked for sitting in their bank accounts.

a true business. not really the true definition of a charity.
somebody will say you should expect to pay something in the case of the RSPCA.
but what if those millions of donators gave that money for that very reason?
so that people didn't have to pay. and the animal above all comes first?

Re: Are charities a business?
 

Over the years I have approached several charities for help or advice for our disabled twins. The standard answer boils down to "We raise money, we don't give out information or help".

One charity said they could not give me any information as their boss was "on an extended holiday and wouldn't be back for a few more months".

So for this household, charity begins at home.

Re: Are charities a business?
 

The thing that gets me is the "subcontracting" that goes on regarding collecting donations. I work for a charity (a reasonably large one, but Wales only) and we don't sub out donations (I think the only place where we have to pay a fee is via JustGiving or similar). I also donate to charities locally where I know the good cause and support it (for example the local Orthopaedic Hospital).

What I don't do is give on the doorstep to people who have clearly been sent on a "round" knocking on doors for a subcontracted company. The most recent example was someone collecting for Tenovous. A pleasant young lady with a Tenovous vest knocks on the door and starts offering the usual script. I kindly point out that there's a tenovous shop on the high street in town five miles away and that I always donate through that.

It must be a total coincidence that all of these "collectors" seem to be about student age and have Mancunian accents (I live in North Wales) and seem to turn up about 10 mins after the bus has been...

Re: Are charities a business?
 

of course they need your to fund their offices etc.

Re: Are charities a business?
 

If a charity immediately gave away all the money that had been donated it would fold pretty quickly. They do need to be set up to deal with soliciting more donations, managing the money and managing the logistics of getting that money to where it would be needed. Medical charities need to investigate which research is worthy of funding for example. Red Cross and Oxfam often have to work in complicated places to access and work. All of them need to ensure they keep getting funding to carry on doing what they do and that also costs money.

Yes the Red Cross could empty it's bank accounts at the next crisis but then they won't be around to help the next time. Staff, equipment, travel, medicines, offices, and the ability to process future donations don't come free.

Listen to a interview with Bill Gates about his charity. It is mostly his money and that of his wealthy backers but many times he has talked about the amount of effort, logistics and time that happens behind the scenes to make everything work.

Re: Are charities a business?
 

It does seem that there are some bad apples that are far more business than charity.

Re: Are charities a business?
 

Are there any links to which charities you're talking about & their bank balances, running expenses, CEO salaries etc?

Re: Are charities a business?
 

Thank God you're here Damien or else we wouldn't have been able to work that out for ourselves and imo there's a big difference between international aid charities and a UK animal charity, what emergencies are they planning for? there's a big difference between having a few quid tucked away for emergencies and investing millions on the stock market, sometimes in dubious companies to say the least as well

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-27607320




---------- Post added at 06:54 ---------- Previous post was at 06:54 ----------

Loads of links, they're very transparent about it, seeing as we mentioned oxfam

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...ts-24m-surplus

Re: Are charities a business?
 

Well one certainly wants a corporate HQ:

Paywall linky

Re: Are charities a business?
 

I know that way back TEAR fund (The Evangelical Alliance Relief Fund) operated by all monies to TEAR fund went to "where needed". The running of TEAR fund was by the Evangelical Alliance which was another charity.
Maybe other charities need to do similar if they don't already but then they may not get any funds to the "management fund".
Another issue charities can have is people donating for a specific cause that can't then be used elsewhere. I heard comments that Great Ormond Street had issues where some parent started to collect for a "scanner" and then that money couldn't be used to actually run the hospital. They had other such pots for capital projects but were in need of money for operational issues.

Re: Are charities a business?
 

Something needs to be done about these behemoth money making machines, they're out of control

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...e-aged-92.html

Re: Are charities a business?
 

Yeap, tax free money laundering operations. It's relatively easy to set up a charity; you become the CEO and your family/cronies members. Write some BS to justify the status, help people of "hardship" of some type or another

then companies/people donate to the charity instead of paying you/family/cronies. You spend the money and justify it as charity work.

How about setting up a wine charity, and organise wine parties in Central London or Surrey? Ooooooops, has been done to death, too many of those. Google "wine charity" ;) and for legal reasons I am not saying/implying that any one of those is doing something illegal.