Running a Race for Charity

Ed_Zep

Hi,

I'm considering running a marathon for a charity. Can anyone recommend a website to find out which charities pass on the most to the cause in percentage terms, please?

Or even just a charity you would recommend because you know where the money goes to for sure.

Thanks,
Ed.

Savvy_Sue

Ed_Zep wrote: »

I'm considering running a marathon for a charity. Can anyone recommend a website to find out which charities pass on the most to the cause in percentage terms, please?

It's never quite that simple, but you can always look at a charity's published accounts on their website, or the Charity Commission's website. See below for my personal take on why it's not simple, or skip it if that wasn't the question you were asking ...

Ed_Zep wrote: »

Or even just a charity you would recommend because you know where the money goes to for sure.

Let's start by asking what you care about? Animals? Children? Older people? Teenagers? Mental Health? Poverty? Homelessness? Addiction? Local issues? Global issues? Environmental issues?

Because if you CARE about the charity's 'cause', you're likely to be more passionate about fundraising for them, you'll want to find out more about what they're doing and how they're doing it, you'll find it easier to explain why you're supporting them, and so on.

It may be easier to find out and get involved if it's either a local charity, or a national one with a local presence.

Why it's not that simple
Let's start with: how do you define 'the cause'? Maybe you think that if the charity is supporting orphans in Africa, then what % of money raised arrives in Africa is a good indication, and any money spent on admin is A Bad Thing. However, getting money from the UK to Africa will incur costs, and in my opinion requires good back-office administration in both the UK and which African countries it's working in. And good back-office admin costs money.

Or maybe 'the cause' is homelessness. So what does that look like: does paying staff to research the problem and inform the public 'count', or only paying staff to give advice and advocate for people?

You might feel that people ought to be willing to volunteer their admin skills, or to work for minimum wage, and when a charity starts up that's often what happens. But to be sustainable, you need consistency, and paying staff reasonable salaries is one way to get that, and it certainly helps in holding people accountable - a volunteer can flounce off deeply offended without answering your questions, and sometimes leaving a ghastly mess behind.

And then there's the issue of how easy it is to raise money for a given charity. And yes, I put my hand up, I'm an administrator for a charity, and it's not a popular / photogenic / 'easy' cause to 'sell' to donors. So we need to employ fundraisers, to contact donors and potential donors, to encourage people to run events, to run our own events etc.

And so on ...