| To charge or not charge? | |
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| May 27, 2008 22:07 |   |
 | Did you hear that the charitable organizations charge the donators for administrative fee? It is reported that the Branch of the Red Cross Society of China in Sanya has levied administrative fee on the donators in March. Recently, this has been exposed to the public through the internet. Many netizens condemned that the Red Cross Society shouldn't levy the administrative fee on the donators. It was unreasonable! However, the Red Cross Society retorted that it was legal. According to the relevant regulation of the Red Cross Society of China, the organization can take 3 to 5 percent of the donation for their adminstrative fee. What do you think of it? Should they levy the administrative fee on the donators? I am wondering if those chritable organizations abroad levy such a fee? |
| May 27, 2008 22:16 | #1 |
| Hello, Jimmy, long time no hearing you. did you take vacation. 5-10% admin. fees are reasonable. I would rather donate thru Red-Cross other then local or so called int'l charity because i know staff working with them are pretty wealthy although they're non-profit org. I just finished going over mkt staff business exp. i just cannot immagin they live like a king! |
| May 27, 2008 22:42 | #2 |
| Hehe, Marrie. I didn't take vacation but was busy for a while. Actually, the Red Cross Society of China has announced that they wouldn't take admin. fees at the moment. This is an exception. As I said, many people still think that it was unreasonable to levy admin. fees. Some netizens wrote in a forum that they would rather donate their money to other private charitable organizations than the Red Cross, for instance, One Foundation set up by Jet Li. Why? They think that it is more transparent since their spendings are supervised and publicized. For the Red Cross, they are supervised by the relevant department but their accounts are not publicized . Many donators don't know where their money has gone. Personally, I hope that the Red Cross Society could learn from One Foundation to publicize its spendings. |
| May 28, 2008 00:51 | #3 |
| Of course, the Red Cross must charge admin fees. They pay fees like everybody else, including salaries for staff members, phone calls, internet, utilities etc. Just like any other company. As for publicizing its spending, I am not in favor of that, nor am i in favor of making public the names of donors and their contributions. If you do not trust them, don't give them your money. On the subject of donations, a donation that is not freely given is a tax. |
| May 28, 2008 20:00 | #4 |
| "If you do not trust them, don't give them your money." Right, WCTMAN. That's why they say they will donate to One Foundation. The Branch of the Red Cross Society of China in Sanya not only charges admin fees but also treats the donator badly. When the donator asked why they charged the admin fees, the principal said:" the Red Cross is a brand. Now you use this brand so that you should pay for it." Her attitude was very bad. I don't know when the Red Cross has become a brand. What brand is it? Really absurd. Of course, the Branch of the Red Cross Society of China in Sanya was a bad example. It didn't mean that all Red Cross Societies in China are bad. However, it has damaged the Red Cross's reputation. |
| May 28, 2008 20:26 | #5 |
| These institutions have bills to pay, too. They have to pay water and electricity bills unless the utility companies are feeling charitable every month and don’t ask them to pay. If they have a stockpile of food and medicines, they would need a temperature-controlled warehouse for that or else everything will spoil. They might need to rent office and warehouse space. The money has to come from somewhere. I know of a charitable institution where they explicitly say in their website that 20% of the donation goes to running the institution. |
| May 29, 2008 12:27 | #6 |
| There were a number of charitable organization scandals in the USA some years ago. Very little of the donations collected by the bad organizations benefited the people in need, instead, the big bosses of the organizations earned very large salaries! It would be glorious to see 100% of the contributions make it to those in need, but 90 to 95% is good. |
| May 29, 2008 22:29 | #7 |
| storage fees, utilities,electricity fees,office rental fees? I am afraid those fixed and small bunch just for old fashioned charitable institutions. do you believe a int'l charitable org just need one saleman for fundraising in one branch. do you know how they claim their value - 200 USD/HR for each mkt plan, claim biz dinners as much as they can plus fixed high salaries. accumulated endowment is really applied to what it's supposed to be? they are non profit, fin statement auditing waived. but they are millionaries. |
| Jun 1, 2008 20:34 | #8 |
| I agree with Jimmyb that the charitable organizations should publicize their spendings. They should be responsible for their donators. On the other hand, the donators have the right to know where their money has gone. What's more, the corruption problem has spread widely in the world and the charitable organizations are no exception. They need supervision and the public is the best supervisor. It is said that the central government has assigned auditors to the local Red Cross Society to supervise how they spend the donations. On the other hand, the related regulations have been made. According to the regulations, those who take possession of the donation, relief materials will be punished severely. |
| Jun 9, 2008 18:14 | #9 |
| If someone donated money and stipulated that it was for a specific cause it would be unethical to charge and administration fee. If however the money was given with no specific instructions, it is reasonable to withhold a percentage for administrative fees. Back about 1996, there was outrage when it was revealed that the head of the American Red Cross (the Elizabeth Dole) had a salary of $200.000.00 a year. the Red Cross did not collect as much in doantions for years afterwards. After 9-11 thousands donated money for the victims and families affected by the terror attacks. So much money was recieved that they announced they would hold back several million for other Red Cross activities. Public outrage made them give all the money to a fund for which the donors originally intended - all money donated for 9-11 victims would be given to those whom the donors wished it to go to. It is important that all records and books of any such organization be open for public scrutiny. The victims of May 12,2008 need help and they need it now. |
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