This week a disturbing story appeared from the ABC “Charities reveal high marketing costs” :
the charities concerned have defended the practice, saying it happens worldwide and is just part of doing business [...] But 95 per cent of money raised through street marketing in its first year is not going to the charity.
Wow. Ninety-Five percent of your first year’s donations are going to the marketing company who signed you up on a regular donation plan. That sounds plain crazy to me. Who are we really donating to? Speaking personally I’d rather as much of my hard-won money as possible ends up in the hands of those who really need it!
One of these marketing companies is Cornucopia Fundraising, who run campaigns for Oxfam, Redcross Australia & New Zealand, Save the Children and more. In a statement provided for the ABC story they say
“the commercial arrangements between Cornucopia and its clients are available publicly”
However no such information of the sort appears on the Cornucopia website. The only way to know is to dig into the financial statements of the various charities concerned – although many will reveal their fundraising costs if you dig deeply (or ask sweetly) enough.
So what can we do? There is a ‘peak body’ called the Fundraising Institute of Australia who are supporting the creation of a National chart of accounts for charities. That would allow us to more easily compare one to the next and have a much better idea of where your money goes.
For now, take the time to discover the fundraising costs of your favourite charities. One great charity that is very open about costs is Kiva.org (loans that change lives.)
At Kiva you make micro-loans to people who really need some help. You can send money out through PayPal, loans are made $US 25 at a time. When you make a loan, you can choose to give a little extra to Kiva themselves to run the service. Other than that, all your money goes where it is needed. With the exchange rate so high between the Aussie and US dollar now is a great time to start making a difference.
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