Mike, if a charity can't afford "decent accounts" then it can't afford to be operating at all. If you're really struck by the cause then the chances are that there are better run charities opertating in the same field for you to give your money to.

..... And yes, charity accounts can be totally misleading (I've just read one set that would knock your socks off)! I'm not suggesting that decent accounts = good charity, but ropey accounts are still a cause for concern.  

Don't shoot the messenger

Ginsters, if you do place the financial health of a charity high on your list of reasons to give then great, go and give a gift to some charities that are financially healthy. However, any organisation that can afford decent accounts/auditors can play smoke and mirrors with the accounts to show you a healthy picture (anyone heard of Enron?).

Umpire, don't hold your breath.

Mike

It appears on the face of it that Mike is expecting to receive a précis of how his money is spent.  If he doesn’t get a reply, surely that would mean  the Charity in question was lets say, not transparent or lacks the information form its own resources to account for how it will be spent and if at all, the money will make a difference.  If that is the case, then surely Ginsters Dragon has a point, why would any body give to a Charity who wasn’t transparent.  Mike, if you are willing to set up a direct debit, donate to me, I’ll write and tell you how your money will make a difference to my expense account or towards my already over inflated CEO wage.    

Except that I do consider 'financial health' to be rather important. I wouldn't give money to an organisation that's hopelessly mismanaged (as that could well be indicative of the way that it delivers its services) and similarly if a charity appears to be rolling in it I'd wonder if they really need my modest donation.

Incidentally I'm aware of one charity that's really gone to town on the spin in order to appear 'financially healthy' in their latest Annual Report. They've managed to achieve growth by arbitarily merging their UK accounts with a sister overseas charity. The UK charity itself isn't doing too well (I understand, although it's impossible to tell from published figures), but their partner's moved on in leaps and bounds so they're taking the credit for that. Odd given that they have seperate constitutions with separate boards. Misleading one might say, but it certainly goes to show how much importance some charities attach to appearing to be financially healthy.

Don't shoot the messenger

Yes, I do look for a level of transparency Ginsters Dragon, in that I want to know how my donation will make a differency.

However, I won't be reviewing the annual report for comment on financial health, disclosure of trustee remuneration or disclosure of relationships with other parties as Adam does of an evening for light reading!

Mike

"I want to know how a charity will use my donation on a local and national level and how practically this will help people in their everyday lives."

Isn't providing the proof of that one measure of transparency? It sounds to me as though you do place the issue rather high on your agenda when deciding where to donate your hard-earned.

Don't shoot the messenger

Hello everyone,As Adam mentioned, I will be making some online donations and reviewing how the recipient charities communicate with me.Unlike Adam, I don't place an organisations transparency high on my agenda when deciding who to support. I want to know how a charity will use my donation on a local and national level and how practically this will help people in their everyday lives. Many charities do this well through direct mail and on the telephone, but I'm not sure how well charities do this over the web. Mostly because, I don't give through the web (apart from sponsoring friends via justgiving).So this is a voyage of discovery for me and I can’t promise not to "borrow" any good examples of online fundraising to use at Mencap.IG has selected 4 charities covering disability, international development and homelessness who I will donate £10 to. I will then review the communications they send to me over 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks. The ones who ask me in the right way will get a direct debit. The ones who don't will get an e-mail asking to block me from any future communications.To clarify one point, I am the Head of Donor Marketing at Mencap and not the Head of Fundraising

Mike