What is your opinion of charities (in general)? Do you support any?

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DangersVengeance@reddit

I work for one that’s entirely volunteers (including me - nobody gets paid at all). We have to fundraise for the storage unit and for postage, which is honestly my less favourite part of it. So on principle I think charities are a good idea that can sometimes be taken advantage of.

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ric_mcc1766@reddit

That works for smaller charities, but there is no way major charities can run on volunteers alone.

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DangersVengeance@reddit

I agree.

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TeamOfPups@reddit

My work brings me into contact with hundreds of charities, and I've worked for two charities directly.

Charities need to be properly managed to do the good work - they need to have highly skilled staff who know how to raise enough money and then use that money to achieve the very best possible impact. This needs people and infrastructure, and this needs funded too. But done properly the core costs (inc properly paid staff salaries) are a drop on the ocean compared to the impact that investment can leverage.

Conversely I've seen shit CEOs literally run charities into the ground by being keen and passionate but inexperienced and/or shit. That's what you get when you pay a CEO £30k to essentially run a business.

So do you want to pay a CEO £30k and have them turn it into nothing, or pay a CEO £60k and have them turn it into £200k and turn that into help for a thousand people?

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eyesonly456@reddit

Didn't the large ones get exposed for only using 10% or less of the income for the good causes they are supposed to support. I used to love a good charity shop visit but now they sell used primark clothes for a higher price than new.

I don't think it helps that they are always complaining when compared to other retail stores the labour is free, business rates are only 10% compared to other businesses and most if not all of there stock is free.

For me charity shops are done and its easier and cheaper to buy on Vinted

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Hertfordgal@reddit

But people giving to the charity shops are giving their items freely and do not want money for it. Vinted is a business and everyone is getting paid. Please share the article talking about the large ones only using 10%?

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eyesonly456@reddit

The latest accounts from British Heart Foundation show that the store network bought in 230 million and expenditure was 230 million. Meaning every item donated and sold made no money and nothing went to the cause. The only way they are in profit is from philanthropy, wills and commercial tie ups like omaze.

In regards to business part charities are a business and some pretty huge ones at that

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ric_mcc1766@reddit

This shows that £230m went to the cause. Charities have expenditure and a certain amount of income is needed to cover that.

Keepng shops and shop managers (and all the other staff involved with assisting the shops to exist) is expensive, but they wouldn't be doing it if it didn't bring a net positive to the charity - it is much easier, and less risky, to get rid of a large expense than keep it, even if it is self-sustaining.

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Milam1996@reddit

What charity? Most of these “scandals” are actually just people not understanding accounting.

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Effective_Topic_4728@reddit

Much like businesses, small, local ones in my opinion, tend to deliver what is promised. Large ones are a mechanism for rich and/or powerful people to become more rich and/or powerful. That's not to say they don't do good things, but I'm sure some of the money is siphoned off.

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Bowtie327@reddit

I’ve supported a charity’s IT before, we used to eat the cost of a lot of stuff for them, until we learned how much the administrators earn, I don’t expect them to work for nothing but to be on 50-60k wage is kinda alarming for a charity

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noodledoodledoo@reddit

I don't know, they have to compete with the private sector. It seems unfair to punish employees financially for having a conscience at work too.

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Bowtie327@reddit

Competition with the private sector is understandable, but using the same logic, you’d employ someone cheaper that isn’t as expensive

When the main admin is driving around in a C Class Mercedes and insisting on using a MacBook Pro, they’re being paid too much

It’s not as much of a punishment, more of “you’re working for a charity, so you aren’t gonna be paid as much as a for-profit organisation

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noodledoodledoo@reddit

using thee same logic, you'd employ someone cheaper that isn't as expensive

And they'd also not necessarily be as good/experienced/skilled/qualified.

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Lessarocks@reddit

I give to two annually - both ones which helped when my parents were dying.

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Petrichor_ness@reddit

I volunteer and donate to a few different charities.

I have fostered dogs over the years, done home checks and attended fund raising events and have a standing order donation. I won't touch the national charities with a barge pole but happily support the smaller ones where I know how important every last pound is.

I also volunteer for a local community car. Anyone in the local community who needs a ride can request one and a team of local volunteers will transport them. Helps those who can't drive get to important appointments and gets them out the house.

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Milam1996@reddit

Anyone who thinks charity ceos are paid too much are entirely uneducated idiots who’s closest experience to senior management or an executive role is moving a monopoly piece.

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fergie@reddit

I get where you are coming from, but charities are, in fact, often used as a way to enrich and enable a certain type of lifestyle for a certain type of person.

And I say this as somebody who has set up two charities.

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Milam1996@reddit

Well I think OP is talking about reputable charities not some rich twat using a charity as a legal structure to funnel money around tax loopholes.

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fergie@reddit

Right, but you only need to spend like 5 minutes around the likes of the Red Cross or Greenpeace to realize that a large part of their function is to provide travel, influence and employment opportunities for rich twats. And this is pretty widely documented btw.

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Milam1996@reddit

No it’s not. Read their account statements. You can see exactly what is spent where.

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killer_by_design@reddit

Very pro charity, very anti-charities filling gaps in what should be public services.

For instance, the Air Ambulance should never ever have been anything other than publicly funded. I think it's appalling that they are reliant on charitable donations.

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h_424@reddit

I usually donate to smaller charities in my area or charities which send proof. For example donating water wells in countries or donating food packs theyd usually send a picture with your name on the water well as a founder or put your name on the food pack this came from xyz person.

However I have been donating more to local charities, mental health and suicidal prevention charities, domestic violence charities and along with food banks.

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melancholyy-scorpio@reddit

I don't have any problem with charities apart from those who spend their time blocking entrances/exits and checkouts begging for your time and generally making life more difficult.

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Sweaty_Ear_9247@reddit

Or those who knock on your door or ring your telephone. Any "out of the blue" communication is intrusive in this day and age.

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noodledoodledoo@reddit

Knocking on your door is SO rude. There's no way to make them go away either without being rude yourself, and they know it. Just taking advantage of people's natural desire to not be a dickhead.

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rising_then_falling@reddit

"Oh, sorry, I'm not interested in thank you."

Neither rude nor difficult, although the trip down three flights of stairs is annoying if I'm in the middle of something.

I'd rather have that three times a year than some card machine ask if I want to donate 50p to something, three times a week. At least I can have a chat to the charity collectors if I'm bored.

I don't

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BlueHeron0_0@reddit

I think it's a bit sad that so many charities are necessary and a lot of things that are done by them should be done by councils. Same goes for National Lottery

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xtinak88@reddit

I think they are often a backbone of society in ways people aren't aware of. I find that people often don't realise how much work charities are delivering in the fields of health, education and social welfare - this is often work people assume would be provided by the state and in many cases it is work that once would have been provided by the state. The charities do a good job with very limited resources and often have previously received some state funds that have been slashed to nothing and have to work hard fundraising to meet the gap, because the social need remains. These are small and medium sized charities that you may never have heard of.

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NLFG@reddit

Regularly give to Great Ormond Street, RNLI and the Joint Council on Welfare & Immigrants, as well as being a member of English Heritage. They're important organisations doing good works.

And I echo u/Milam1996 on the CEO thing - the RNLI has the turnover comparable to a large company; the salary for the leader of the organisation should be at a level to get good people in.

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winebookscats@reddit

We donate to the same causes (almost - I donate to the British Refugee Council, I'll look into the JCWI) and it's heartwarming to see someone with a similar ethos ❤️.

Absolutely agree re salaries. The CEO of the RNLI for example is ultimately responsible for a multi-million pound budget, finance, compliance, risk, HR, training, admin and all the other roles of a private firm of a similar size. The salary received by the RNLI CEO is massive by most people's standards but is still significantly less than would be standard for a similar sized private sector business.

I'd rather pay to have someone who knew what they were doing (and was passionate enough to reduce their salary) over someone who had fewer skills and less experience.

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NLFG@reddit

Yeah, exactly. It shouldn't be market rate, but nonetheless, you get what you pay for so it's got to be a fair wedge.

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Civil-Fan-3586@reddit

I used to, but not anymore. Stopped when realised that I'm paying for so many wages of various managers, supervisors, CEOs etc. I wouldn't mind to give directly to those in need. I'm happy to feed someone in hunger, or by a school supplies for a kid who doesn't have any. But, sadly, that's not how modern charities work...

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Diddleymaz@reddit

I’m a member of the Vegan Society, we play the Lottery and Omaze, and the Postcode lottery. My husband sponsors a dog with Dogs Trust and we support our Catholic Church and various appeals they have.

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Sweaty_Ear_9247@reddit

I used to support 5 different animal charities, giving them all £10 a month as animal welfare is my biggest concern. Unfortunately I became disabled and had to leave my job, so it broke my heart to stop supporting those charities. But I'm not able to afford my bills atm, never mind donating. That said, anyone who can, and does, donate or give time to charity gets my respect.

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folklovermore_@reddit

I have regular direct debits set up to two medium sized charities I have a personal connection to. I'll also often throw any change I have in a charity box (provided it's for a charity who I support in general) or chip in a fiver to colleagues fundraising with things like bake sales, running marathons etc, and shop at charity shops for things like books or the odd item of clothing.

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Short-Shopping3197@reddit

I give a lot to charity already through being a Freemason, outside of that it feels like every month some friend or colleague is doing a sponsored run for something and I’ll give them money. Other than that if something really tugs on my heart strings I’ll chuck them a tenner.

Charities can do really important work. I had a friend with cancer and the support he got from McMillans made a massive difference.

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Dangerous_Bed2566@reddit

I regularly support the Cats Protection League.

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Mean_Actuator130@reddit

Charities have their heart in the right place, but not always their brain. Private sector can be the other way round.

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AtomicKaijuKing@reddit

Small local charities, not big brand charities. I see charities as a failure of government, realistically we shouldn't need them. I do feel the smaller ones or ones for certain services (life boats etc) are good but shouldn't be in place to begin with. I don't like how charities compete within the same arena, makes me wish charities were centralised so all donations go into the same pot for that cause, which will never work in practice. I also tend to find any charity that employes chuggers, or people approaching you in shops to be very annoying. As they are spending money to get donations. Don't get me started on children in need or similar things that have all these multimillionaire actors & celebrities asking us poors for donations for something that have probably been paid to do & say by those charities.

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Iammildlyoffended@reddit

I used to have a DD set up for the NSPCC as a childhood abuse survivor it’s a cause very much close to my heart - but after a year or awful letters from the charity detailing children’s abuses while begging for more and more and more money (I started on £2 and increased it to £15) and then a worker knocking at my door asking for more money. I told him it’s far too triggering for me and left.

Haven’t paid into a charity since.

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Hot_College_6538@reddit

I do payroll giving to two large charities I care about, have done for years. My employer matches it as well.

My wife works for a University, a lot of their research into horrible diseases is funded by charities, now EU funding has gone there's far less money for important research.

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EyeAware3519@reddit

Charities are basically businesses these days. Of course they do a lot of excellent work and many people are alive today that wouldn't be if these charities didn't exist. A lot of people make a lot of money for themselves from these charities however Should I expect people to work for free though? Probably not and most of these well paid executives could get a better paid job in a different sector. I do have experience of some charities that take the piss though and have unreasonable expectations of their volunteer workers.

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AverycoldGoose@reddit

There’s about 170k registered charities in the UK which feels excessive to me. I give regular to a couple of larger charities that have personally helped family members in the past.

Lots of charities don’t really raise actual donations but either operate as not for profit businesses (like private schools) or exist to apply for grants from government. Personally I think they should be reclassified as something else if they can’t show broader public support.

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WildTomato9@reddit

I support Medicins Sans Frontieres, they do fantastic work in basic care and maternity services in war zones. Just simple things like antibiotics for mastitis to help a mother feed her baby, which means so much given the amount of crap the woman has probably had to put up with. I just think it's worth £10 a month or whatever it is.

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fastestman4704@reddit

Depends on the charity doesn't it.

I do get confused by the variety of charities with overlapping interests though. There's 1000 different heart health charities could you guys nit all make 1 big charity?

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BusyBeeBridgette@reddit

I donate to 20 charities on a regular basis. Sure some, perhaps, take too much of a cut from the donation but at least some of it gets to where it needs to be. Better than nothing at all.

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ItalianChef22@reddit

I used to work in telephone fundraising. It was the worst job I ever had, it's a deeply exploitative industry for just about everyone involved, and it ended horribly. The nature of the work exacerbated a lot of pre-existing mental illnesses amongst the staff and in the two years I worked in fundraising, five of my colleagues died.

However, it did teach me the huge importance of the work some of these charities do, and the desperate attempts they have to go through in order to raise money. It also highlighted to me the importance of giving to charity on a consistent and regular basis. Charities need to plan and budget their work, and a regular monthly donation is the best way to do that.

In an ideal world, none of these charities would need to exist, but that's not the world we live in, and refusing to donate to charities doesn't actually solve that problem. The fact that some of them spend the money in ways I don't agree with is part of the price we pay, but it would never convince me to stop donating unless the charity is downright corrupt. Those of us who have more have a moral obligation to do what we can for those who need help, and charities can do far more at scale than any individual action.

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SchnaffSchnaff@reddit

I work for a large charity and I see the direct benefit to the people we help. It's great. Yes we have well paid senior managment but they get stuff done.

However I am aware that not all charities are like this.

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manic47@reddit

I run 2 small local ones so know exactly how we spend any donations / income, so I donate to these and a couple of other small ones nearby rather than the big name national ones.

That said there are some terribly ran small ones in our town I’d never give a penny to.

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