The Charity Commission has just released the results of its long investigation into the Palestinians Relief and Development Fund (INTERPAL), a charity that works with local NGOs in Palestine. The charity got into the headlines a few years back when BBC’s Panorama claimed that it was involved with supporting terrorism.

Although the Charity Commission cleared INTERPAL of some serious charges, it found that the charity:

 “had not put in place adequate due diligence and monitoring procedures to be satisfied that these organisations were not promoting terrorist ideologies or activities. Where procedures were in place, they were not sufficient nor fully implemented.”

And, what’s more, that it:

“had not taken sufficiently rigorous steps to investigate allegations about some of [its] partner organisations”

By coincidence, we’re just about to update our profile of Interpal. I think it’s interesting to note, although it gave almost £2 million in grants in 2007, its annual report doesn’t tell you who these grants are for. That’s in contravention of the Charity Commission’s rules.

If you think that’s a shocking lapse, consider that an astonishing 42% of the top grant-making charities we give detailed profiles for don’t fully disclose information about their grant-giving. Without this information, we can’t be quite sure to whom the money is going. And, as in the INTERPAL case, that is a very serious concern. Charities take note: transparency matters.
 

 

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