Looking to make a large charity financial donation. If you work at a charity HQ and know how the money is spent... would you recommend?

[Whatawaytogo]

And if you would recommend, such charity is it?

I went to make sure that a large financial charity donation that I will be making is definitely going to be be used effectively.

I usually donate to Uk charities, with a particular focus on hospices, but happy to try others.

TIA

I work for a hospice, as other people have said, if you ask they can tell you what they want. We have a wish list, some really small things like books. Someone left us money recently for a new ultrasound machine - absolutely amazing 😊

Exactly @Darker! If I donate to a charity, I want them to have the best people working for their cause. I want those people to be fairly paid for their expertise, to have decent IT to use, for their salary and pension to be properly administered, for them to have a clean and comfortable office etc. These things all cost money.

@MindyStClaire

I'm sure it's not what you meant, but your post reads a bit as "if you work for a charity, how can I donate in such a way that my donation won't pay your salary"

What a shame you saw that.

I have worked in public and private senior roles for last 20 years. I understand the value of expertise and experience to make a business flourish from the top down, and that requires paying decent salaries to attract the appropriate people to achieve this.

I see charities as no different.

My post was trying to gain an insight in to what people who work at a high level within charities ie they are privy to the info, re how they feel about the projects their charities invest in

And I have received some great responses ans private messages for which I am grateful and will respond to

Ultrasound machine is a doddle though - when I wanted one, our fundraisers rang up the usual trust funders and had one in a month.

Mattresses though or bedside cabinets - not sexy.

And the roof leaked for 30 years.

Have a look at something like your local home-start scheme. Core costs are really hard to fundraise for so extra cash for something like this would make such a difference.

Here's how to find your local one:

www.home-start.org.uk/find-your-nearest-home-start

Air ambulance charities generally don’t want to be government funded. As charities they keep their independence and aren’t subject to value for money reviews.

At a moment like this I’d probably look for charities which are particularly struggling due to loss of other funding streams.

www.givewell.org/ is very useful.

They publish the world's charities which save or improve lives the most per dollar donated.

How lovely of you! I work at a small brain injury charity and am a volunteer at a woodland non profit so would go for small charities every time. I’d shortlist and I’d call them up and ask what issues they have that you can help them solve - see how you feel after that. You sound like a philanthropist and I just love the small number of supporters like you that we have. Happy to chat if it would help. Thank you for supporting our third sector, tbh never have small charities needed people like you more.

Exactly @Darker! If I donate to a charity, I want them to have the best people working for their cause. I want those people to be fairly paid for their expertise, to have decent IT to use, for their salary and pension to be properly administered, for them to have a clean and comfortable office etc. These things all cost money.

I don’t think anyone reasonable would disagree with paying for well qualified staff, it for decent working environment - they might well query some of the other utter wastes of money spent, for example 4 full rebranding exercises in the space of 10 years, each one necessitating new stationery, office furniture and decor or the “fact finding” foreign trip which cost over £10k and yielded precisely nothing. Having worked in the third sector for years, I only give to small charities who can account for their finances and who have much less capacity to hide wastage under huge staffing, equipment or marketing budgets.

I often fantasise about winning the Euromillions and having loads of money to give away but I think it would be hard to give it wisely, and I've been in the sector for a long time.

I'd probably set up several big multi-year donations to charities I know well or are doing work I care about, so that they can use it to effect change over a long time. Say between 25% - 35% of their current turnover for four years and then a review and if all is going well provide ongoing funding of about 10% - 20% for a further three + three years.

Did you know that the scouts and guides are having to sell off their campsites as the pandemic has left a large financial hole.

There is a charity being set up to save Downe Campsite in Kent. A donation would ensure this land stayed for it's original intention of giving youth outdoor experiences no matter their financial situation.

iirc, To claim Gift Aid have to be registered with Charity Commission.

Charity needs to have income at least £5k to be registered with Charity Commission.

The charity I work with is right under that threshold most years. I think we are up to date with our registration right now, but many very small charities won't quite reach it.

I've been part of many such very small charities & we sometimes struggled hugely due to lack of professional skills skills that should be paid for. Nobody really understood book-keeping, employment law, other regulations that we still had to follow. At least we don't have premises, vehicles, electricity or equipment to maintain. All adds up.

@Jellycatspyjamas

If it were me, I’d choose small, local charities where the money is spent close to the ground. I wouldn’t give to large, national charities because simply put the money would need to be a very significant amount to make any difference at all, and so much money is spend on backroom organisational flummery instead of on frontline services.

I won't get into what people should donate to, but I would love to know what "backroom organisational flummery" is. You mean all the stuff that actually ensures that there are frontline services? You know, like making sure that doctors and other emergency staff get to places they are needed and have the equipment they need to make a difference? Or the logistics that ensure that water is taken from where it is to where it is needed? That sort of "backroom organisational flummery"? Or maybe you object to paying people the rate for the job because they choose to make the world a better place? Or the fact that they need It systems that work or a decent office space? If they work for a charity or similar, perhaps you think they shouldn't expect pensions, sick pay, HR, occupational health and welfare services.... that sort of "backroom organisational flummery".

I have no idea where you work, but whatever you do, I am fairly confident that you won't produce anything at all if you don't have any "backroom organisational flummery", and that you'd also be kicking off like hell if you didn't have some of that "backroom organisational flummery". What makes you think that charities are able to, or should, do without those things?

@Moondust001 I’ve worked for years in the third sector, both small and large organisations at a fairly senior level, I’m not talking about decent wages and conditions for staff or professional infrastructure to support that work. I’ve given examples of what I’ve witnessed that in my experience were a complete waste of time and money that I don’t think donors would have been happy to see their money spent on. I’d rather the money was spent on all the things you mention - organisations skimp on those things at their own risk. If you’d read my posts you’d know that.

My three recommendations are

tynantcatsanctuary.org/ - They came to my attention a few years ago when they suffered a break in by a vile individual who murdered some of the cats.

www.celiahammond.org/
A truly wonderful charity that helps animals in need.

Chaldon Animal Sanctuary - a forever home given to animals.
chaldonanimalsanctuary.co.uk/donate.html

Greyhound rescue Wales -
greyhoundrescuewales.co.uk/ Fantastic charity.

Four ^^ I can’t count !

[quote Jellycatspyjamas]**@Moondust001* I’ve worked for years in the third sector, both small and large organisations at a fairly senior level, I’m not talking about decent wages and conditions for staff or professional infrastructure to support that work. I’ve given examples of what I’ve witnessed that in my experience were a complete waste of time and money that I don’t think donors would have been happy to see their money spent on. I’d rather the money was* spent on all the things you mention - organisations skimp on those things at their own risk. If you’d read my posts you’d know that.[/quote]
And I have worked for charities and NGO's for decades, and have yet to see the amount of wastage that you suggest is going on. Yes, there may be one or two examples of it - it happens everywhere (and it is also a matter of opinion - what you think is necessary or wasteful is probably not what others would agree with). But do you apply the same amount of zeal to your weekly shopping - there's an awful lot of waste in the private sector?

Focussing on one or two examples of what you personally consider to be waste rather than on the £millions spent well supporting people who need it most detracts from the good that is done. I could tell you about the cases of fraud that I have seen from small charities with lax systems because they don't have the infrastructure to monitor well, or because they simply trust people. But those are also very isolated cases amongst millions that do a great job.

"Backroom organisational frummery" was what you called that which isn't "frontline". That is rubbish. I stand by what I said. Large or small, it gives no guarantees that your money will be well spent, but the vast majority of organisations do spend money well and wisely.

Thank you all
Oh goodness - so many charities that I would love to give to. So so many.
To those the pm-ed, thank you.

I wanted to keep it local. There’s a wonderful hospice. I have decided to donate there. I recalled a friend who worked there would always do fundraising events on behalf of them in her own time and continued to do so despite not working there - and this speaks volumes.

Thank you all

If you have a local orchestra, opera or ballet company, they are in need to any support you can give. After a whole life of hard work, musicians and dancers cannot pay rent... Thank you for your generosity.