Charities and their Operating costs

quintain

Hi,

My wife and I, childless, UK persons, born before VE day need to decide where to leave our substantial estate upon our deaths.

We have a small number of individuals to leave money to but those are secondary to a charity such as (example only) Age UK or Duke of Edinburgh awards, donation/s.

we welcome advice on charities running costs; i.e. (1) chief executive and many directors all have a large expensive car issued annually; (2) charity % running costs far exceeds % paid to recipients.

We would wish to avoid, such as as Nos 1 & 2 above  hence the question where can we find a list of charities running costs.

Marcon

quintain said:

Hi,

My wife and I, childless, UK persons, born before VE day need to decide where to leave our substantial estate upon our deaths.

We have a small number of individuals to leave money to but those are secondary to a charity such as (example only) Age UK or Duke of Edinburgh awards, donation/s.

we welcome advice on charities running costs; i.e. (1) chief executive and many directors all have a large expensive car issued annually; (2) charity % running costs far exceeds % paid to recipients.

We would wish to avoid, such as as Nos 1 & 2 above  hence the question where can we find a list of charities running costs.

Try https://www.ncvo.org.uk/practical-support/information/coronavirus/1747-how-can-i-tell-how-effective-a-charity-is?highlight=WyJjaGFyaXR5IiwiY2hhcml0aWVzIiwiY2hhcml0aWVzJyIsImNoYXJpdHkncyIsIidjaGFyaXR5IiwiJ2NoYXJpdGllcyIsImNoYXJpdGllcycuIiwiY2hhcml0eXMiLCInY2hhcml0eSdzIiwiY2hhcml0eSciLCInY2hhcml0aWVzJyIsIidjaGFyaXR5JyIsImZhY3RzaGVldHMiLCJmYWN0c2hlZXQiXQ==

quintain

Thank you.

Regards

quintain

Savvy_Sue

Personally, I'd start by looking at local charities, especially working in fields close to your heart. A sizeable donation could make a big difference, they tend not to give CEOs and directors company cars, and their admin costs rarely exceed their charitable activity.

Having said that, I'm going to put in a word of support for charities paying decent salaries to their staff, and providing equipment which works well. You want someone competent dealing with finance, and you want someone who understands HR legislation, and you want experienced staff working with vulnerable clients. We usually love our work, but we can't live off warm fuzzy feelings.

Pollycat

I'd put a word of support in for those charities that really should be properly funded - RNLI and Air Ambulance - both of which I've donated to regularly for a long time.

Do you not have any charities that have helped your friends or family?
I would consider BHF as both my parents had heart surgery and Dementia as they both suffered from that.

Malthusian

Any large charity is going to have large running costs. Even if you found one with relatively low director / admin costs, there's nothing to stop them increasing their pay after your donation is received. (For a large charity your bequest will be a drop in the ocean, so they won't change their spending plans, meaning it will take them years to spend your bequest as it will be absorbed into regular outgoings.)

If I wanted to ensure that a charitable bequest was being specifically used to do good, a small local charity would always be my first port of call.

We have a small number of individuals to leave money to but those are secondary to a charity such as (example only) Age UK or Duke of Edinburgh awards, donation/s.

Make sure your charities are left specific £ bequests and that your residual beneficiaries are individual friends / family. Do not leave a percentage bequest to a charity. Charities are known to blackmail estates into giving them a larger share with the threat of legal action against the executors on the grounds they got too little for the estate's assets. If they are left a specific £ amount they have no scope for challenge (assuming the estate is large enough to meet all specific bequests).

As specific bequests rank above residual beneficiaries, this also meets your aim of making the charities primary beneficiaries and individuals secondary beneficiaries.

This does mean that you will have to review your Wills regularly to take into account the changing £ value of your estate. Bear in mind it could shrink due to care costs and you might be unable to change your Wills later in life due to lack of capacity.

Keep_pedalling

Malthusian said:

Any large charity is going to have large running costs. Even if you found one with relatively low director / admin costs, there's nothing to stop them increasing their pay after your donation is received. (For a large charity your bequest will be a drop in the ocean, so they won't change their spending plans, meaning it will take them years to spend your bequest as it will be absorbed into regular outgoings.)

If I wanted to ensure that a charitable bequest was being specifically used to do good, a small local charity would always be my first port of call.

We have a small number of individuals to leave money to but those are secondary to a charity such as (example only) Age UK or Duke of Edinburgh awards, donation/s.

Make sure your charities are left specific £ bequests and that your residual beneficiaries are individual friends / family. Do not leave a percentage bequest to a charity. Charities are known to blackmail estates into giving them a larger share with the threat of legal action against the executors on the grounds they got too little for the estate's assets. If they are left a specific £ amount they have no scope for challenge (assuming the estate is large enough to meet all specific bequests).

As specific bequests rank above residual beneficiaries, this also meets your aim of making the charities primary beneficiaries and individuals secondary beneficiaries.

This does mean that you will have to review your Wills regularly to take into account the changing £ value of your estate. Bear in mind it could shrink due to care costs and you might be unable to change your Wills later in life due to lack of capacity.

From the opening post the plan seems to be to make the charity(s) the residual beneficiaries.

theoretica

All charities should publish annual accounts, so you can check on specific ones which you are interested in.

https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search  for England, OSCR for Scotland.

Froglet

When we had our mirror wills done,and were considering leaving a percentage to three or four specific charities,we also were advised to give them a specific amount instead.Since we are leaving the majority to family members ,it seemed to make far more sense to.give away what we felt we wanted to,now,rather than later,knowing we could spare it anyway.
Perhaps this is something you might consider ?