Do you ever feel some big charities don't actually do anything?

[Cinderellaspumpkin]

Do you ever feel some big name charities don't actually do much more , when scratching under the surface, than signposting, ( often to other organisations that signpost), and "raise awareness," of the cause.

but surely they are digging and maintaining large numbers of boreholes? And all the surveying, and planning, and permissions, and admins etc that needs to be done first?

and, of course, provision of toilets and sewers, which is far more difficult and expensive

I have been keeping an eye on a small local charity. 2 years ago almost 35% of the income went on fundraising. There seems to be no sign in the accounts that they have done anything in connection with their objectives.
The web site talks about fund raising, which seems to be about giving the principles life experiences. There was no mention of how to access their services or how they can help

Taking buckets of cash for doing fuck all? Yes.

I remain horrified.

I can read accounts. I did.

One charity, donated to lavishly by celebs, kept 92 percent and spent 8 percent on projects that were already fully funded by the council.

I’ve worked for two famous charities too. Most of the remarkably well-paid staff do nothing.

The solution is direct giving.

what about smile train, and sight savers?

https://www.sightsavers.org/

https://www.smiletrain.org.uk/

The solution is direct giving

Except often it's not. Direct Giving is what leads to people loading up transit vans with random items donated by well-meaning neighbours and friends, and driving across Europe to Ukraine/Turkey, with nothing but a vague idea about doing a "good thing" and socking it to those big money grabbing charities who dare to spend 1p on admin and salaries.

I work in public affairs in the charity sector, we're not all service based.
A lot of my job is holding the government to account and helping to influence and shape strategy, so you can't lump the charity sector with all the same issues

This. I used to work for a national charity with this set up and trust me, we not only worked our arses off but we made such a difference to the lives of our target group including helping them to claim benefits thus taking them out of poverty, reducing social isolation and supporting them to navigate the social care system. We worked closely with gp practices and health professionals and were regular attendees at their meetings. I don't think that is doing nothing do you?

Do not underestimate raising awareness.
It can be life saving

Read my above post. You show massive ignorance here. They are not even called Age Concern anymore and haven't been for a long time . I worked for this charity and we were hugely proactive in what we did. Of course every branch is different but we were pivotal in the area I worked in. Most gp's referred to us for this reason and we made a huge difference to our local population and rarely did we signpost

I think you will be in for a surprise then

Hear hear @Babyroobs

Agree wholeheartedly with this. We have social prescribers, GP's , older people being recommended by work of mouth, social workers all referring to us. The only reason we signpost is if we are totally overwhelmed with referrals which happens a lot as we are such a small team and funding has dried up/ been cut, or if it's something that is out of our remit like complex housing or immigration advice ( we operate in a city with a huge number of immigrants, older family members being brought over from India , young wives being brought over from India etc ) and we want to make sure the advice people get is absolutely up to date.

@WestOfWestminster macmillan do a huge amount. Working in a hospital I know they find specialist nurses we wouldn’t have under normal budgets, provide ongoing training for the macmillan funded nurses and wider team plus provide a huge amount of support for people with cancer - financial and practical advice and support. That’s as well as the cancer research projects. I’m genuinely surprised anyone would think they don’t do very much.

Measurability is notable by its absence.

If big charities are so effective and so thrifty, could we see them dish out just one sheet of A4 with

• money into our charity £
• people helped by our charity to value of £
• people helped by giving CAB number
• cost per person helped £

It’s not difficult. Every business on the planet manages a more complicated version every month, no matter how tiny.

I work for a large charity that a previous poster said they weren't impressed with. That's hard for me to hear, but at the same time I have to recognise that people in a different local team might have a very different experience from the people I support.

Likewise, people who contact our national helpline will probably be given lots of information from the very knowledgeable phone advisors-- but it's not the same as what we do on a local level.

For me, the job is very much about giving ongoing support from the moment of the first concern/symptoms, right up until the end of a person's life. I will give information and signpost to other providers if that's what the family needs, but that's a small part of the job. I'm a familiar face and voice to go where I'm needed most. I answer questions, listen to fears, hold hands, offer tissues, empathise with confusion and resentment, and find laughter in dark moments. I help navigate a confusing path and bring in help when it's needed. And I am so lucky to be based in a team within a building where we can bring in as many other providers as possible who are also able to help in their various ways. I know the impact I have, because people tell me I've made a difference and taken weight off their shoulders.

My point, I suppose, is not to judge a large charity by its central media or even an experience in one local area. There will be hundreds of stories under each one.

A very elderly relative of mine worked for oxfam in the 50s and 60s all over the world, lived in absolute luxury. We found out after his death that he has a sealed public letter that is not allowed to be opened until about 50 years after his death. Bet it's about what went on.

The ones I follow on social media, post stories from people doing work for them. It seems pretty full on to me, vocational. I don't know what "big" means: I volunteer regularly for one that may be "big". I know people appreciate what I do.

Must be. Must have bee so absolutely AWFUL that he decided not only to write it down and not tell anyone about it 50 years ago, he wanted it kept secret for 50 years after his death too. Definitely couldn't be anything else. 🙄

And yes, white British expats in the 50s and 60s did live in luxury compared with some of the communities they were helping overseas. I believe they had running water and electricity and everything. How very dare they.

You mean like a person who can hold an intelligent conversation? I agree, those are the best kind of people to meet at parties.

I will ask on a new thread

When my mum was diagnosed (sadly died) with breast cancer, Macmillan were fantastic to her. They did a lot of complimentary therapies like aromatherapy massages etc which she really benefited from. That's why we asked for donations to them in lieu of flowers when she died. I still donate now.

I used to donate to the RSPCA but stopped because I'd heard bad reports that they put down healthy animals rather than rehoming them.

I donate monthly to Cats Protection, Dog Trust, a local animal charity, Hearing Dogs, Trussell Trust and St Mungos (charity for street homeless). While I support their aims 100%, I do wish they didn't send me marketing materials and save it for their causes.

I do ad hoc donations to Battersea, Crisis, and Freedom from Torture (an organisation that supports asylum seekers and refugees.

They definitely do a lot but virtually everything is funded by the NHS long term except the helpline advisors and the benefits advisors. They only fund specialist Nurses for 12-18 months and then longer term , the post ( if it continues) is funded by the NHS. I'm not sure they fund cancer research at all, but their online chat forums and support groups are excellent.

Having been in the situation of putting bids together for Macmillan, they do not touch any bid with a bargepole where you can't guarantee that you will continue to fund the post once the 2 years is up.

So you get a couple of years for free, but after that it absolutely is coming out of your normal budget.

They have a small budget to provide ongoing training but actually we covered most of that out of our own trust fund as Macmillan's was very small.

They don't fund cancer research - they are very clear about this on their own website. They do surveys of patient experience and workforce surveys, both of which are very useful as lobbying tools but it isn't cancer research.

£350 grants are not a cheap thing when there are hundred of thousands of cancer patients wanting to apply for them ! With the cost of living crisis and cancer patients not being able to afford to adequately heat their homes, there has been huge demand for these grants and to many they are an absolute lifeline. I was a benefits advisor for macmillan quite some years and there are quite a few specifics relating to benefits for cancer patients that maybe not all benefits advisors would know, although a good one would. The macmillan benefits team I worked for were very skilled at helping cancer patients through tribunals when PIP applications were turned down etc. I am probably a bit harsh on macmillan as I saw a lot of wastage and poor advice when I worked for them, but on the whole they do a lot of good as well. I guess huge amounts of their income goes on grants, a lot on wages, their CEO is on £180k and their have huge surpluses( in my opinion) of middle managers. They don't even really have many buildings to maintain - just the big one in Shipley, Glasgow and London headquarters and a lot of staff still wfh since the pandemic. The phone advisors certainly aren't paid a lot for the knowledge they need. They do a lot of campaigning / lobbying to get a better deal for cancer patients.