Giving to Charity

omits

Is there a way of determining what paid employees earn in a charity (i mean the exec staff)? I want to avoid giving to charities where their earnings are IMO too high or where the has been controversy surrounding them. Thanks.

00ec25

yes, read the accounts for the charity concerned freely available via the Charity Commission website.
http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/showcharity/registerofcharities/RegisterHomePage.aspx

If the charity concerned is "big" then its accounts will be to statutory format and will include notes to the accounts where they disclose the highest paid employee's pay (not their name obviously) and the ranges of any directors / "leadership team". The note will be in the "proper" financial accounts section of the report, not the pages of flannel that precede it.

this, for example, is the info for Oxfam - see page 60
http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Accounts/Ends18/0000202918_AC_20160331_E_C.pdf

bris

omits wrote: »

Is there a way of determining what paid employees earn in a charity (i mean the exec staff)? I want to avoid giving to charities where their earnings are IMO too high or where the has been controversy surrounding them. Thanks.

It's every charity you can think of. The execs are not in it for the charity they are just treating it as a career. Just look at the company cars they drive, this will tell you everything you need to know.


The fact is the big charities need to attract the best staff just like any other business. The overheads are huge which limits the cash for charitable purposes.


Be very wary of not for profit organisations too, the more they make the more they pay themselves as their wages aren't treated as profit leaving a pittance for the cause they claim to support.

00ec25

bris wrote: »

It's every charity you can think of. The execs are not in it for the charity they are just treating it as a career. Just look at the company cars they drive, this will tell you everything you need to know.

wow, a somewhat jaundiced view!

the "big" charities are rather sensitive to the subject and all will have some sort of statement explaining their position, this, for example, is Oxfam's (with my bolding):

"In setting CEO and Director pay, the Remuneration Committee takes account of the skills and experience required for each of the roles and the remuneration in the sectors from which suitable candidates for such posts would be found. They have taken independent advice to inform those judgements. They also take account of affordability for Oxfam. The general aim is to pay salaries of up to the median level for large UK charities. These would typically be no more than 70% of the base salaries for comparably sized roles in the public and private sectors. We do not aim to pay salaries comparable to United Nations agencies, donor organisations or North American International NGOs. We do not pay bonuses or other incentive payments. Pay increases to directors and other employees are awarded subject to good performance.

We have set ourselves a target that our top to median pay ratio should not exceed 6:1 in the UK. Our current top to median pay ratio, based on UK contractual pay as at 1 April 2016 ,was 5.8:1. This is higher than many other international NGOs, due to the significant proportion of shop staff in our UK workforce. If our shop staff were excluded, our top to median pay ratio would be 3.9:1. Our highest to lowest pay ratio is currently 8.6:1, which better demonstrates Oxfam’s commitment to resisting rising pay inequality"