Intelligent Giving

HELPING LATIN AMERICA'S STREET KIDS

Working with local charities in Guatemala and Bolivia, this non-evangelizing Christian outfit provides on-street help, day centres, and refuges for street children. A new fundraising drive - which included a revamp of branding, logo and strap line - has apparently resulted in a a fundraising income that's over 25 per cent up on last year. But the annual report lacks precision and we'd particularly like to see more information on the charity's funding arrangements.

Read the charity's reply

QUALITY OF REPORTING What is this?	57 %
How much info does the charity want to share? This score, taken from our search for 43 key points in the annual report, gives the answer. Top mark is 100%. Anything over 70% is a good effort.
SIZE OF CHARITY... What is this?	Medium
We only profile the largest charities in England & Wales, and our sizes are relative to the largest and smallest among them. So where we describe a charity as 'Small', it is still much larger than the national average.
HIGHEST SALARY What is this?	Under £60k
Taken from the vague bandings given in annual reports; note that 'Under £60k' could be £9k or £59k. Nonetheless the number of bars should roughly correlate with the 'Size of charity' bars.
RESERVES WOULD LAST... What is this?	6 months
If income dried up, how long could work continue? 3-12 months is normal. Less may be precarious. 12+ months may be over-cautious (or if very high, may represent the value of the charity's property).
ETHICAL INVESTMENT POLICY What is this?	Unknown
We asked the charity if it has an ethical investment policy. If yes, it gets an angel. Those with no policy but which don't invest in tobacco/arms get a halo. Those without investments, or who didn't respond, appear neutral. Those with stakes in arms/tobacco get a fallen angel.

But don't just take our word for it...

• The charity's website
• View their work on the Big Give
• GuideStar financial overview
• Charity Commission entry and link to annual report

Our fundraising costs need some explanation. We sell craft goods made by local people in Latin America (but not by the street children – we’re not into child labour!) and included in the fundraising costs are £185,037 spent on the cost of the goods sold. We don’t make a lot on the crafts but each one tells a story about a child. Taking out the sales and costs of the crafts our fundraising ratio is 21%.