Quick Hello and P4C

[AndrewT]

Top 500 charities spend around 9-10% on fund raising and administrative costs.  The average is 15-25%, anything more than that is a bad value for money.

where did you get that figure from tantrum? If that is right then it shows the 30% figure up for the disgrace it is.
Thank you for taking time to respong bigslick but I doubt anyone on here (beyond your small band of close personal friends) would want to be a trustee of a charity most have lost faith in.

The bigger a charity is, the more it will benefit from scalability. The costs do not increase in proportion with money raised, therefore it is inevitable that small charities incur admin costs which are a bigger % of their overall income than the likes of the NSPCC etc.

[sofa----king]

Also, let me give you this scenario to consider:
A person (mentioning no names) has a charity that pays out 100% to good causes (lets for arguments sake say it raises £50,000), that person has a company who picks up all the admin costs.  If its admin costs etc. come to £25,000 then that can - and IMHO should be classed as income.  Therefore income equals £75,000 and to good causes equals £50,000 therefore the REAL percentage in the pound is 66.66%. A great achievement, but still far short of the magical 90%.

That doesn't make sense to me.

in this case then the company that would pick up the admin costs would be better of doing 0 for charity other than donating £25k (without any hasstle?)and no cost or time ?

[ariston]

I am unable to give as much time to the charity through pressure of work, and it is my intention to resign my position of trustee as soon as possible. But in the meantime I intend to NOT claim any expenses.

rat/ship?

If rob was to ask me to help run some charity poker events and assured me 100% of the money raised would be going to good causes then I would gladly give up my time for free. I would also support an event of this kind as a player to. I will not however go to any event where for every £10 rebuy I have only £3 goes to good causes.

[Div]

I think there's an inevitable problem with expenses in running any relatively small scale charity, which has a wide geographic reach.

Running a charity that raised £30k p.a. in your local town would probably be pretty cost effective, but when the geographic reach is national or international it simply can't make sense.

It would be unfair to expect all trustees or other active suporters to pay for all their own travel, accomodation, and subsistence costs, but choosing where to draw the line is tricky.

Should all flights be Ryanair, all hotels bargain basement, eating at McDonalds only? Probably not.

Should all flights be Business Class, all hotels 5*, fine dining only? Probably not.

I'm aware of many recent poker oriented fundraisers that have been run successfully online, going back to the Hurricane Katrina events. Instead of a tourney being $10+1, it can be $10+5, $10+10, or whatever.

Given the simplicity of getting an amenable online site to set up a one-off event, and the virtually zero cost of marketing through forums and blogs, that seems a much more viable business model - and one which is not open to suspicion of abuse.

If P4C doesn't have the critical mass to operate cost effectively in live events, I'd suggest sticking to the online arena would be a wise move until the numbers dictate otherwise.

[ariston]

Also now I have reread the last few pages I take offence at the comments about poker players. Sure the £20k admin costs wouldnt look so bad if you had raised £14million but the fact is you haven't. You can't say its our fault your business is poorly run because you haven't collected enough. To blame the generous players for your inadequecies is very poor imo.

[byronkincaid]

in this case then the company that would pick up the admin costs would be better of doing 0 for charity other than donating £25k (without any hasstle?)and no cost or time ?

He's obv talking about Rob Yong but he's saying that Rob pays all the expenses out of his own pocket right? surely that's a good thing? that means that if you want all your donations to go to good causes give your money to Rob's charity. seems weird that someone from P4C is effectively advising us to donate to a different charity.

[TheBigSlick]

Also, let me give you this scenario to consider:
A person (mentioning no names) has a charity that pays out 100% to good causes (lets for arguments sake say it raises £50,000), that person has a company who picks up all the admin costs.  If its admin costs etc. come to £25,000 then that can - and IMHO should be classed as income.  Therefore income equals £75,000 and to good causes equals £50,000 therefore the REAL percentage in the pound is 66.66%. A great achievement, but still far short of the magical 90%.

That doesn't make sense to me.

Sorry m8. Let me try to make it clearer.

I have a business of my own. I can offset against my company's tax liability a charitable donation. However to ensure I have not just pocketed the money, the inland revenue would want to know where I have sent it to.  The charity receiving said donation would then need to show that donation coming in. That money would go into the "income" of the charity but not going out to good causes.

What I am saying m8 is that it is IMPOSSIBLE to pay out 100% to good causes. A telephone call needs paying for, as do stamps, stationery, etc. etc. etc.

Also, if we are going to compare charities, can we have like-for-like comparisions.

And finally, does anyone know how much the Chief Executives of NSPCC or British Heart Foundation or RSPCA earn?

I'm now going to work to try and earn a living.

[marcro]

in this case then the company that would pick up the admin costs would be better of doing 0 for charity other than donating £25k (without any hasstle?)and no cost or time ?

He's obv talking about Rob Yong but he's saying that Rob pays all the expenses out of his own pocket right? surely that's a good thing? that means that if you want all your donations to go to good causes give your money to Rob's charity. seems weird that someone from P4C is effectively advising us to donate to a different charity.

Unfortunately nobody associated with P4C has represented themselves or their organisation very well on this thread.

[TheBigSlick]

rat/ship?
 

Thank you, I deserved that.....did'nt I?

[ariston]

rat/ship?
 

Thank you, I deserved that.....did'nt I?

Yes I think you did actually.

did we deserve telling its our fault your charity is not working because we havent donated enough or attended enough events?

[Colchester Kev]

I am uncomfortable with the way this thread is going, whether you think the spokes people from P4C/Game for Life have done them self any favours in their posts or not, facts are that they have at least been good enough to post. I dont feel that personally attacking them is any way to get answers or encourage them to provide them.

Perhaps we should afford them the decency of trying to explain their position without jumping straight down their throats with flippant sarky comments.

By all means ask questions, but can we at least ask them in a civil way ?

[b4matt]

I am uncomfortable with the way this thread is going, whether you think the spokes people from P4C/Game for Life have done them self any favours in their posts or not, facts are that they have at least been good enough to post. I dont feel that personally attacking them is any way to get answers or encourage them to provide them.

Perhaps we should afford them the decency of trying to explain their position without jumping straight down their throats with flippant sarky comments.

By all means ask questions, but can we at least ask them in a civil way ?

SHUT IT... X

[Trace]

rat/ship?
 

Thank you, I deserved that.....did'nt I?

Leave it Tony, it's really not worth it!

[tantrum]

where did you get that figure from tantrum? If that is right then it shows the 30% figure up for the disgrace it is.

among others:

http://www.charitywatch.org/toprated.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/programmes/money_box/transcripts/06_10_16.txt

http://society.guardian.co.uk/voluntary/story/0,,1946511,00.html

http://www.give.org/standards/newcbbbstds.asp


although charity watch is an American organisation it can be appplied to most UK charities.

[sofa----king]

if p4c thought that it was not being run to well,due to illnes or to busy or stressed out,surley if they would have asked for help  or advice they would have got it .or just cut out so many events around the country ?