If you work for a charity...

[Gottodosomething2026]

would you give them a large donation if you won the lottery?

I often ponder over what I'd do if I won the lottery and recently realised I wouldn't give anything to the charity I work for.

Would you?

Have worked for a charity in the past and no, I wouldn't.

I wouldn't publicly diss the charity but equally wouldn't fund it either.

I've worked for three small charities that I'm really fond of and I know any money I give will be used well. I've written them into my will.

I used to work in charity sector & wouldn't give a penny to any of them (big name cancer etc) it lines the pockets of the executives & generates more advertising & more donations. It's a pyramid scheme type business model for very little benefit to the cause.

I've been a puppy raiser for guide dogs & would give my time again & leave money to them. Also a small charity I've volunteered for & benefitted from I would leave money to.

Yes I would. I work for two charities, one in a paid role and the other as a volunteer. The paid role is in a niche industry, very small family set up charity, would be absolutely over the moon to help them to reach their dreams for it.

volunteering one - not so much, well known nationwide one, feel the money would just line the pockets of head office!

Yes I would, but the charity I work for is very small and all our donations are used just to keep us open!

Absolutely yes !!
I have my dream job with a charity and I could do so much good there with a lottery win.

It’s one of my dreams to win big on the lottery and then a) endow the charity I work for with £5 million and b) set up a grant making foundation

having been in the charity sector since 2002 I know what to look for in charities big and small

I agree that some big charities are now, really, money making machines.

Absolutely not! Not in it's current state. I agree with the cause but not they way it's being managed at the moment.
I work with lots of smaller charities through my work, who I would give to in a second.

I have worked for three charities over the past 20 years. The only one I would give to is the local hospice. The other two are bigger national charities and having seen first hand how money is wasted I will never give to them.

Good question. I think I would.. but I would want it to be restricted to what actually works.

I feel quite relieved that it's not just me who wouldn't. So many charities think they're making a great difference when they are not. Good to hear that some genuinely are.

I do and yes I would - for the one I work for now. We're small. We make a difference. For others I've worked for, I have devious thoughts of restricted funds and conditional clauses with a gift they would find hard to refuse and would generate challenging discussion to be able to accept. As i say, devious.

I am a trustee of three and I would give them all something if I won the lottery. I also work as a funder in the sector and what I'd say is that people probably expect too much in a lot of cases in terms of impact- i.e. they underestimate how much money is needed to move the dial and also how things like advocacy/ driving policy change are often the most effective mechanisms but the costs associated with these are often classed as "overheads". There are also some massive blind spots in terms of how the sector works. People think small charities achieve more but they generally don't, especially if you look at outcomes rather than outputs. However, I get it. Philanthropy is emotionally, not rationally led for individual donors and for a lot of them alleviation of the issue that they can validate (e.g food bank- person needs food, they get food, good job) is more important than some intangible long term poverty alleviation/ levelling up strategy that they'll never be able to validate but which might lead to the person not needing the food bank.

The work done by larger charities is also often more complex/ nuanced and there's more scope for new initiatives to just not work or not work in the way that people anticipated. A lot of dynamism in the sector is throttled by funders who are so conservative and want certainty, but actually figuring out what doesnt work and why is really important.

That said, the sector is variable. Some charities are more effective than others but I just reject the small charities vs big charities assumption. A lot of small charities are small because the model is unscalable because either (1) cost per beneficiary is way too high or (2) predominantly or entirely reliant on high levels of volunteer labour by key individuals for whom it is a passion project.

No.

We are very small and providing excellent VfM but we are reliant on volunteers as pp said. I have worked in many charities of various sizes and although I think they have provided decent VfM, so much is really work that should be done by public sector bodies, eg government contracts.

I think we have way too many charities and in many ways not that different to private orgs. I’m a bit tired after all these years of the precarity of government contracts leaving us so hand to mouth, not v well paid, statutory only benefits, fixed term contracts. I got jaded!

No , the waste is huge. I volunteered for a local charity and have good knowledge of another - would not give money to either. Happy to pass in item they can use or sell but having seen the waste and also the way there is lack of organisation as well as not target ting what is genuine I would not.

I worked for many years for a huge, very famous international charity that had major celeb 'ambassadors'.

I wouldn't give them a penny. It was mostly waste and hubris.

I have since worked for a very small local charity. I would give them money.

I work for a local charity and yes , I absolutely would and will . Small charities are a million miles away from the giant corporation ones .

I would give my (small) charity employer money - they do amazing work with 10000s of people, are unique and brilliant and they do not waste a penny.

I would also give money to a couple of charities I have volunteered at - this includes Sex Matters.

I agree with @AllJoyAndNoFun - charities are professional organisations that deliver a charitable purpose. None are inherently good or bad. Some of them do great work on a pittance. Some of them waste money and exist for their own reasons. The size of the charity makes no difference to this. Employees of major charities should absolutely be paid well, whereas some volunteers are in it for the backhanders and ego or otherwise incompetent. A lot of the money needed to keep charities going are for things like paying staff, administration, accountants, training. It might not be sexy but the core work could not be done without them. About 90% of the cost of our work is paying professionals to deliver it. The current economy and government policy means that is a lot more expensive. You absolutely cannot have volunteers doing the specialist, highly trained (10 years+) work we do.

One I volunteer for - yes in fact they are in my will. Run ethically and I know my money would definitely help others.

One huge children’s charity I worked for - no way. So much money wasted on jollies for rich people at the top. So much money wasted in general. Political weakness and ineffective practice.

The one I worked for is small and local and a complete and total con. I’d never give them any money and I tried to whistleblow when I left. They have an amazing online presence and get lots of donations to their ‘worthy’ cause.

I worked for an arts organisation that is a registered charity and if I came into money I would give them a huge donation for a particular strand of work

I worked for a charity for 12 years and yes I would donate to them.

I worked for a large cancer charity. No way would I donate to them

Yes. I plan this in my day dreams. I'd go through a solicitor for strict anonymity and give my service the money it needed to do the work that needs doing, without having to compromise and jump through hoops for funders. I'd carry on in my role still receiving my salary because I wouldn't want anyone to know about the win and i love the work, but I'd donate it back anonymously.