Do Christian charities waste money?
How do we make sure that our money gets to the people who need help when we donate to charities?
Many Christians may opt to donate to charities that have a Christian focus thinking that they will do the best with the money.
But is that true?
Research by GiveWell has been done into finding charities that get the most for their money, see ‘Research shows the most cost-effective Charities’ below.
The last article shows our favourite, most well-known, top 100 charities and reveals that many are spending millions on executives and spending huge amounts per person the charity helps.
Table of Contents:
In looking at how to donate to charities we will start with the most popular ones that many Christians donate to (but are not in the top 100 of the last article) but disappointingly, some of the salaries are still very high.
All the figures are taken from the Register of Charities. 1
So what are the best charities to donate to?
How to donate to charities. By Peter Reason licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
1: Christians often donate to charities that have a Christian ethos.
Tear Fund
Tear Fund is a Christian relief and development agency committed to eradicating poverty.
Total income and donations: £76,336,000
Total paid out to employees getting more than £60k: Between £1,270,000 to £1,460,000
The highest getting between £110k to £120k.
World Vision UK
World Vision UK is an international Christian children’s charity working to bring hope to millions of children in the world’s hardest places.
Total income and donations: £62,228,253
Total paid out to employees getting more than £60k: Between £660,000 to £740,000
The highest getting between £110k to £120k.
Mission Aviation Fellowship International
MAF International uses light aircraft to transform the lives of some of the world’s most isolated people in need, working in partnership with hundreds of other humanitarian organisations.
Total income and donations: £32,012,863
Total paid out to employees getting more than £60k: Between £330,000 to £380,000
The highest getting between £90k to £100k.
Baptist Missionary Society
The BMS makes known the Gospel of Jesus Christ and aims to prevent and relieve poverty, relieve sickness and promote and protect health.
Total income and donations: £8,091,482
Total paid out to employees getting more than £60k: Between £250,000 to £290,000
The highest getting between £70k to £80k.
Mission Aviation Fellowship UK
MAF UK is the largest provider of resources for MAF International’s work.
Total income and donations: £11,684,000
Total paid out to employees getting more than £60k: Between £200,000 to £230,000
The highest getting between £80k to £90k.
Open Doors with Brother Andrew
The charity supports persecuted Christians throughout the world.
Total income and donations: £12,692,917
Total paid out to employees getting more than £60k: Between £130,000 to £150,000
The highest getting between £70k to £80k.
2. Research shows the most cost-effective Charities
GiveWell is an organisation that seeks to find the most efficient, cost-effective charities, which can help in working out how to donate to charities:
We aim to find giving opportunities that save or improve lives as much as possible.
‘Research on Programs’ Givewell. 2
We generally start by identifying promising programs, then identify organizations that effectively implement those programs.
Our program review process operates like a funnel:
We conduct short, shallow reviews of a large number of programs, then prioritize more intensive reviews only for programs that seem more promising.
We assess how promising a program seems based on strength of evidence, cost-effectiveness, and room for more funding.
We provide the most in-depth reviews of the most promising programs.
We designate organizations that effectively implement these programs and meet our criteria as top charities and recommend grants to support their work.
We also recommend other grants to support additional research and/or fund high-impact programs.”
Here are the GiveWell’s prioritized list of programs (as at July 2023) which have shown to be extremely cost-effective:
- Chlorine vouchers for dirty water through the Development Innovation Lab. 3
- Water quality interventions remove or disable pathogens in water (through, for example, filtration or chlorination) to prevent waterborne disease, particularly diarrheal disease. Run by the Evidence Action charity. 4
- Identifying and treating uncomplicated cases of both severe acute malnutrition and moderate acute malnutrition on an outpatient basis. Run by ALIMA. 5
- Deworming – Treating all school-aged children with anti-parasitic drugs in areas at risk. Run by the charities: Evidence Action, SCI Foundation 6 and Sightsavers deworming programme 7
- Mass fortification of staple foods, such as wheat flour, to reduce iron deficiency run by Fortify Health. 8
- Vitamin A supplementation to children aged approximately 6 months to 5 years in areas at high risk for vitamin A deficiency run by Helen Keller International. 9
- Malaria vaccine to children in areas of risk run by PATH. 10
- Mass distribution of long-lasting insecticide-treated nets in malaria risk areas and seasonal malaria chemoprevention to children under 5. 11
- Providing tree seedlings and training to small-scale farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, run by One Acre Fund. 12
- Provide teaching for groups of women of reproductive age, especially pregnant women, to develop localized strategies. Run by Spark Microgrants 13 and University College London. 14
- Providing rapid point-of-care testing and treatment of syphilis during pregnancy to prevent the complications of syphilis infection for the child and mother. Run by the Evidence Action charity.
- Nigeria is home to just 3% of the world’s population, yet it accounts for 13% of the world’s mortality of children under five. Vaccines provided by New Incentives – Nigeria Expansion. 15
Try to donate to charities that make the most of your money.
3. Can I donate to charities where the money won’t be wasted on huge salaries?
We won’t donate to charities that pay out very high salaries, but that still leaves us wanting to give money to help the poorest people in the world and other worthy causes.
Here are the charities that don’t waste their money on huge Executive salaries, but have not been looked into by GiveWell:
(My list does not include health/medical charities and animal charities).
Armenian Ministries
Armenian Ministries provides money to destitute families, medical assistance, clothing, wood, and winter fuel and food to Armenia.
Total income and donations: £129,453
Total paid out to employees getting more than £60k: None
Charity Global UK Ltd
100% of publicly raised funds bring clean and safe drinking water to people in developing countries.
Total income and donations: £4,394,584
Total paid out to employees getting more than £60k: None
Water Survival Box Ltd
This charity aims to relieve people in the world who are the victims of war or natural disasters, by the supply of clean water and other essential supplies and also providing sustainable solutions for safe water.
Total income and donations: £250,030
Total paid out to employees getting more than £60k: None
Release International
This charity provides practical and spiritual support to persecuted Christians overseas.
Total income and donations: £2,725,820
Total paid out to employees getting more than £60k: Between £60,000 to £70,000
The highest getting between £60k to £70k.
Watoto Child Care Ministries
This charity provides holistic care for orphaned children and vulnerable women in Africa.
Total income and donations: £1,217,076
Total paid out to employees getting more than £60k: Between £70,000 to £80,000
The highest getting between £70k to £80k.
Wycliffe UK Ltd
In one year (2021-22) 49 full Bible or New Testament translations were launched, 367 new language Bible projects were started. 3,266 languages have ongoing work in progress. 16 million people who did not have access to any Scripture a year ago now do.
Wycliffe Bible Translators and partner organisations are involved in over 75% of Bible translation work worldwide.
Total income and donations: £7,256,820
Total paid out to employees getting more than £60k: Between £60,000 to £70,000
The highest getting between £60k to £70k.
Trinity Homeless Projects
Hostels providing housing for homeless residents, vocational and skills training, work experience, etc.
Total income and donations: £1,669,852
Total paid out to employees getting more than £60k: Between £60,000 to £70,000
The highest getting between £60k to £70k.
Concern Worldwide (UK)
This charity is an international humanitarian organisation specialising in tackling hunger in the world’s poorest countries.
Total income and donations: £1,669,852
Total paid out to employees getting more than £60k: Between £140,000 to £160,000
The highest getting between £70k to £80k.
Hopefully, that helps you to explore the topic, ‘How to donate to charities’ and answer the question: ‘What charities can I donate to?’
Does this article make you think about how you will donate to charities from now on?
What other charities can you suggest?
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An example of extremely biased reporting from a local newspaper.