What one of our interns thought

			Xun Liu D.Phil. candidate in Biochemistry, University of Oxford
			FROM SEPTEMBER TO NOVEMBER 2006 I worked as a research intern at Intelligent Giving and I witnessed the launch of the website. My job was fairly straightforward: break down the annual reports/reviews of major British charities (using 43 criteria developed by IG) and come up with a score that reflects the ‘quality of reporting’. I reviewed 88 charities including the British Red Cross (see profile), the Catholic Trust for England and Wales (see profile), the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (see profile), and the British Olympic Foundation (see profile). One might think that reading annual reports is downright boring but it was not like that at all. Every charity is unique in its mission, beneficiary, and approach and because you are reading it in a critical manner, you are constantly searching, thinking, and making judgments. Beyond that, it is simply heart-warming to read all those life-changing stories in annual reviews and I was often brought to tears by the pictures and words that show the worst and the best of humanity. My “favourite” line comes from the mission statement of Children in Distress (see profile), a small charity that cares for the kids with terminal illness in Eastern European countries: “We believe that no child should be left frightened and alone, in pain, in the dark, dirty, abandoned and abused. No child should have to die without medication to ease their pain, without someone to comfort them and a hand to hold.” I think you have to be quite tough not to be moved by words like this. Another factor that makes my internship interesting is the individuals in the IG team. Dave’s appearance reminds me of Chandler in Friends, and his voice further confirmed my hypothesis that they must be relatives (we clearly gave him too much work - Ed). Neill talks like a firing machine gun, indicating an ultra high-speed CPU in his head. Other people in the team are also very nice and intelligent (of course). In the end I would like to thank IG for giving me this opportunity to explore the charity sector and I sincerely hope that IG will someday become the leading website that every smart British donor will go to.