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Authenticity of International Help Organizations?

Posted by Cliff on from the are-they-legit dept.

UlfJack wonders: "I've been thinking about donating money, especially to organizations like Plan USA, who are doing what they can to help people in Third World countries. However I found it very difficult to check the authenticity of these organizations, so I'm trying to cross-check multiple independent sources. Has anyone figured out an easy way to do this?"

9 of 66 comments (clear)

  1. Trusted recommendations.. by greenpanda · · Score: 2, Informative

    I only donate to whom the BBC recommend.

    --
    PHP
  2. CBF certification by RogerWilco · · Score: 4, Informative

    In the Netherlands we have the CBF certificate program
    http://www.cbf.nl/ (in dutch)
    http://www.cbf.nl/pages/cbf-erkende_goede_ doelen/m et_cbf-keur.php
    gives a list in Dutch of certified organisations.

    One of their criteria is that overhead costs for advertizing, organisation, etcetera should be less that 25% of the average last 3 years collected funds. I think this limit is a little high, but it gives a valid criterium.

    A lot of USA based organisations fail this test. Certified organisations are Amnesty Internantional, Greenpeace, Medecins sans Frontieres (Artsen zonder grenzen), OXFAM (NOVIB), UNICEF, WarChild, WWF (WNF), Red Cross.

    Furthermore you could look at how and who forms the board of directors, income of the director, publicly available financial information. Stuff that can give you cues about accountability.

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    RogerWilco the Adventurous Janitor
    1. Re:CBF certification by RogerWilco · · Score: 2, Informative

      I would like to add that a lot of USA based organisations have large (> 50%) overhead cost because of advertizing and management. I have been told Foster Parents Plan is one of them. It spends most of it's resources on giving their contributers the idea that they are helping.

      Your Plan USA seems a similar organisation.

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      RogerWilco the Adventurous Janitor
    2. Re:CBF certification by RogerWilco · · Score: 3, Informative

      I found a list of overhead percentages here:
      http://www.karthick.com/relief.html

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      RogerWilco the Adventurous Janitor
  3. 2 Stars by Bnderan · · Score: 1, Informative

    Plan USA got 2 out of 4 stars from CharityNavigator.org http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm/bay/sear ch.summary/orgid/4337.htm

  4. Banks do this.... by hughk · · Score: 2, Informative
    all the time because Charities are regarded as high-risk from the point of view of anti-money-laundering. Non-Profit Organisations are considered a little dodgy because the audit reuirements are usually looser than corporations.

    A charity must be registered somewhere. The registrar should have a website with a list of real registered charities. That should be checked.

    A search on the net is also useful to pull out any press records, both good and bad about them. Banks do this too, to ascertain whether the charity is genuine or not.

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    See my journal, I write things there
    1. Re:Banks do this.... by AndroidCat · · Score: 2, Informative
      A charity must be registered somewhere.

      Aye, there's the rub. There's a pseudo-religious organization that operates in the UK as an Australian charity under a reciprocal tax agreement. (Their charity application was turned down in England, Wales, and probably Scotland in 1999.) They slide between the cracks in the laws of both countries that way.

      Groups with a dodgy off-shore charity registration should be looked at closely before donating.

      --
      One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
  5. Yes, word of mouth by leonbrooks · · Score: 2, Informative

    I donate through ADRA and AsianAid, since I know from being told by people who've been there, helped out and looked around that not only is 100% of your money is spent on the front lines (the cost of running these organisations is drawn from money donated by others specifically for the purpose) but the methods they use to help people lean heavily towards (re)establishing self-supporting independence.

    It's not a dependency-forming handout they bring, it's a future.

    If you know of others sticking to similar methods, please list them in reply.

    --
    Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
  6. Charity ratings website url by DaoudaW · · Score: 2, Informative

    I don't know how to post on slashdot, my husband usually reads it, not me. However, I'm the one with experience in development (fund-raising) and have seen places where charities are rated according to what percent of their income they spend on themselves - for fund-raising, salaries, etc. The url below lists charities that spend less than $25 for every $100, this is considered pretty good! Worth magazine puts out a rating of the top 100 charities in Dec of every year, but I was unable to access the article without subscribing to their on-line magazine, as does the Chronicle of Philanthropy - also by subscription only. These are very good sources of info on charities if you're willing to subscribe or go to the library to find a hard copy, otherwise, check out the website below. Cookie http://www.charitywatch.org/toprated.html#intrelie f