Table of Contents:
My last article showed that the majority of the top 100, most popular charities [i], were paying salaries in excess of £100,000 and were spending millions on their top employees.
So what charities can I donate to? In the first section I have included some popular charities that many Christians donate to (but are not in the top 100 of the last article) and some of the salaries are still very high.
All the figures are taken from the Register of Charities [ii].
The second section is where I suggest some alternatives.
What charities can I donate to? By Peter Reason licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
Section 1: Some popular charities that many Christians donate to:
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; aims to prevent and relieve poverty, to 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.
Section 2: What charities can I donate to which we know the money won’t be wasted on huge salaries?
We personally won’t be giving any money to the 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.
Let’s start to find the charities that don’t waste their money on huge Executive salaries:
(My list does not include health/medical charities and animal charities).
Armenian Ministries
Armenian Ministries provides money to destitute families, medical assistance, 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 disaster, 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
2,731 languages in 167 countries have begun active translation or preparatory work, of which Wycliffe and other partner organisations are involved in about three-quarters of this work.
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 answer the question: ‘What charities can I donate to?’
What other charities can you suggest?
Can we trust? Wikipedia, education, TV, newspapers? Wikipedia can be very good at supplying information on factual things but they can be very biased on creation and how that lines up with scientific facts, political topics, etc.
Being a victim of fraud is horrible, see this article.
How good is it to follow celebrities?
An example of extremely biased reporting from a local newspaper.
References:
[i] Taken from: The most popular charities & organisations in the UK
[ii] Register of Charities