# which Aid Agency is the best to give to?



## ssm (15 Nov 2013)

Does anyone know which Aid Agency is the best to give to - who gets the supplies to the victims as quickly as possible and has the lowest admin charges.

Raised some money for the Philippines and want to be sure it goes to the best Aid Agency

Thanks!


----------



## Hans (18 Nov 2013)

That is a hard one as if like me you want your money to go to the heart of the disaster without too much waste along the way. During the last disaster I sent it to Red Cross as the Aid agency that I usually donated to had sent me previous to this a big glossy magazine showing me what they were doing with my money – needless to say I didn’t donate to them again I didn’t want my money going on needless printing costs. Having said that after I donated to Red Cross there was some bad press about them so it’s hard to know how to get donations direct to people who need it without waste along the way. I now know people that go to areas to work for a few months at their own expense and give them my money now as I know it all goes to people that need it.


----------



## Brendan Burgess (18 Nov 2013)

Has the Philipinne community in Ireland set up something? 

I wouldn't give to the likes of Concern who are very agressive in their street fundraising almost every day. They are presumably paying very high salaries or fees to these chuggers or their bosses. 

Brendan


----------



## Leo (18 Nov 2013)

sahd said:


> Try this - the Disaster Emergency Committee   http://www.dec.org.uk/



Surely then this crowd can't tick the box on lowest admin charges the OP is looking for so? They take a cut and pass on whatever's left to another charity?


----------



## Purple (18 Nov 2013)

Low admin costs doesn't necessarily equate to highest proportion getting to where it's needed. It's very complex and depends on what the set-up on the ground in a particular area is like. There is aggressive competition between charities with many duplicating infrastructure on the ground rather than pooling together and working through one delivery infrastructure. 
Therefore Charity X can be the most efficient in Uganda but the least efficient in the Philippines.
Since they all rely on the perception of the efficiency they will present the most attractive version of what they do.
You should also remember that low admin costs don't mean they will be effective; how they spend their money is more important than the efficiency of their administration.


----------



## RainyDay (18 Nov 2013)

sahd said:


> "Our running costs are met by subscriptions from our member agencies


Where do you think the subscriptions from member agencies come from?


----------



## Leo (19 Nov 2013)

RainyDay said:


> Where do you think the subscriptions from member agencies come from?



Exactly, and what is the 'subscription'? 10%? 20%? More?

10 full time staff and 20 directors to be paid.


----------



## Lauren (26 Nov 2013)

I would absolutely give my donation to Concern who are known worldwide for the quality of their work from long term sustainable development to appropriate interventions in emergency situations. I worked with Concern myself in the 1990's.

When approached by their on-street fundraisers I find it very easy to say no thank you or to simply engage in a civil conversation. I have NEVER found them aggressive in any way.


----------



## Janet (27 Nov 2013)

Brendan Burgess said:


> I wouldn't give to the likes of Concern who are very agressive in their street fundraising almost every day. They are presumably paying very high salaries or fees to these chuggers or their bosses.



Off-topic but as you've mentioned it, chuggers don't actually earn high salaries at all, as far as I know (although fair enough, perhaps their bosses do). That's part of the reason they can be so aggressive. My brother did it for a while years ago (so it may have changed since then) and from what I remember it was purely commission-based or as good as.


----------



## dub_nerd (27 Nov 2013)

Brendan Burgess said:


> Has the Philipinne community in Ireland set up something?
> 
> I wouldn't give to the likes of Concern who are very agressive in their street fundraising almost every day. They are presumably paying very high salaries or fees to these chuggers or their bosses.
> 
> Brendan


I spoke to Concern on the phone and asked them what their total admin overheads were. (Actually, they phoned _me_, after I signed up to make donations by standing order). They said 9%, claimed it was comparable to other aid organisations, and were very polite about it and gave me a web address where I could check it out further (which I no longer have, unfortunately).


----------



## Leo (28 Nov 2013)

dub_nerd said:


> I spoke to Concern on the phone and asked them what their total admin overheads were. They said 9%



Overheads will not include the percentages taken by the agencies running street or other collections as they don't pay this themselves.


----------



## dub_nerd (28 Nov 2013)

Slightly off topic, but another time I signed up for a standing order to CRC/Rehab. I discovered that the person who called to the door was an independent contractor, the company to whom I was making the donations was a separate fundraising company with its own overheads, and there was no information available online, e.g. company reports, annual statements etc. I cancelled after the first couple of months.

I see on the RTE News today that CRC executive salaries were being topped up with funds from these charities. If I hadn't stopped donating when I did, I certainly would now.


----------



## delgirl (29 Nov 2013)

dub_nerd said:


> I see on the RTE News today that CRC executive salaries were being topped up with funds from these charities. If I hadn't stopped donating when I did, I certainly would now.


What a scandal!

Funds donated for facilities for patients are being used to pay the management salary top-ups and services have been cut for the very needy.

I also feel very sorry for the volunteers who stood in the cold selling [broken link removed] while the CRC executives sat at home in the warm.

From their website:

*"The Clinic relies very much on the support it receives from this (Santa Bear) appeal each year, which enables it to continue providing the standard of care and services that its clients need and value so greatly."*

Will we see heads roll for this one?  Probably not.


----------

