The Charity Commission Steal Money!

The Charity Commission in Mumbai takes a 2% fee on all donations to Mumbai groups. The fee is supposed to cover the cost of the Commission, but seeing as it isn’t staffed with qualified people, there isn’t a computer in their offices, and it generally does nothing, I think this is my new least favorite thing about Mumbai’s government. They have many millions (if not billons) of rupees collected that are just sitting there. They should, at the least, return some of this money.

Thankfully, the NGOs have gotten together and made serious efforts to get rid of this fee, and it should be gone soon. A good site for more information on this issue (and NGOs generally) is karmayog.com.

When Groups View the CMI as a Fundraising Effort

Usually when we meet with groups there is a mix of operational/strategic personnel and fundraising staff. On occasion, however, we have met with groups that are largely composed of fundraisers. And when half or more of the people we first meet are from the NGO’s fundraising staff it usually turns out that they never fully grasp that the Initiative is not a fundraising effort and rather is something to help them to refine their thinking, refine their efforts towards outcomes and aims, and that the fundraising aspect is a side part, largely to encourage donor engagement. It will be interesting to see if these organizations are engaged enough to make our efforts valuable to them and whether they will put in the significant effort that is necessary.

With those groups that seem dynamic and that we are most excited to work with, the fundraising aspect is at best a side part that they hope will occur but are willing to engage in the process to build capacity.

The NGOs Have to Do the work

We had a follow up meeting in which the NGO did not do much of the internal work we had asked them to do. The result, as we have seen before, is that they essentially asks us to re-run the workshop. While this is helpful and we definitely make progress, it usually results in us feeding the group ideas more than them thinking what they actually believe and are trying to achieve. It also seems to end up with the group taking some of our statements out of context and viewing them as suggestions as to ways they should expand what they are doing. These types of groups tend to see us as advisors or strategic planners – something we try to warn against – whereas the more dedicated groups don’t see us as such.

Annual Reports Are Useless

Most of the annual reports of the organizations we have looked at offer very little material that is not available on the website. The information on the website is usually easier to access is more current. The annual report's only real benefit seems to be to consolidate information in one place and provide easier access to financials. However, for the better performing groups, the website provides all the same information, if not more, so the only advantage seems to be the financial information. But because financial disclosures are limited to the statutory minimum, they provide little depth as to actual expenditures, whether expenses were double counted, etc. problems we have already found. As such, I am bound to think that they are a total waste of time, more meant as marketing material without much meet. They are useful to get some information or a quick idea of what the organization does or wants to do, but one is better off going to the website. That is not to say that they are all bad.

A few prospective donors have said that they would like to see annual reports to make funding decisions. I think this is mostly from corporate practice and not because anyone actually finds a great deal of value in them.

To be more useful, it would be nice to get more information into the reports regarding strategic planning aims, progress against performance measures, beneficiary voice, and overall strategy. Essentially…less what they are doing and more what they hope to achieve and how they are progressing on that.

Mumbai is in trouble!

Alex and I attended a conference with high level officials from Mumbai and London, including London Mayor Ken Livingston. We concluded that Mumbai leadership has an unrealistic view about what is happening here and has satisfied themselves by hiring advisers to support their belief that as long as Mumbai keeps on its current path, it will be the greatest city in the world.

There seems to be no plan on how to tackle the problems that are apparent to everyone. In fact, I don’t think they recognize half the problems that there are. And a lot of this, I think comes from a lack of thinking about what they want to ultimately achieve. This is in strong contrast to what the London officials had to say. They saw a financially robust city economy as their vision and made development happen to accommodate that.

Article on Giving

I read an article by Alex Hatton (“Guilt by Association,” Charity Times, Jan-Feb 2007. http://www.charitytimes.com/pages/ct_features/jan-feb07/text_features/ct_janfeb07_supfeature3_guilt_by_association.htm.) It is an interesting discussion of how its is significantly more expensive to secure new donors than existing donors and that guilt-based appeals discourage new donors. New donors require more information about how their money is being used and how it is making an impact. They also appreciate open discussions on aims and accomplishments and a focus on hope and progress instead of despair.

Social Exchanges

I’ve read a couple recent articles from Mohammed Yunnis, in which he is calling on the development of social stock exchanges. He supports both the creation of platforms for companies that are spending resources on charitable pursuits, as well as listing civil society organizations that do “good.”

Thankfully, people have created many such social investment exchanges. In addition to GiveIndia, there are several online social investment exchanges. These groups do a phenomenal job and work longer hours than many bankers and lawyers I know to help civil society organizations. So if you are inclined to give, these are all reliable.

1. Bring Light www.bringlight.com

2. CanadaHelps: www.canadahelps.org

3. Changing the Present : www.changingthepresent.org

4. Charity Aid Foundation: www.cafonline.org

5. Conexion Colombia: www.conexioncolombia.com

6. DonorEdge www.donoredge.org

7. DonorsChoose: www.donorschoose.org

8. Give2Asia: www.give2asia.org

9. Give India: www.giveindia.org

10. GlobalGiving: www.globalgiving.com

11. Greater Good South Africa: www.greatergoodsa.co.za

12. Help Argentina: www.helpargentina.org

13. Just Give: www.justgive.org

14. Just Giving: www.justgiving.com

15. Kiva: www.kiva.org

16. Microplace: www.microplace.com

17. Modest Needs: www.modestneeds.com

18. Network for Good: www.networkforgood.org

19. Social Investment Exchange: www.sasix.co.za

20. Social Stock Exchange: www.bovespasocial.com.br