What charities have the most money going to the cause?

stevec59

I’ve been giving to charities for a few years, not a lot, but what I can afford, one of those charities is the royal life boat, I don’t personally know anyone that has been rescued, but it seems a good cause, the other day I googled how much does the CEO earn, I was shocked to hear that it was £170k, that seems far too much and I pre5hat it comes out of donations, but it’s not just the CEO, there are other staff costs, if you donate to a charity shop, then they must pay rent, so how do I find a list of charities that shows how much actually goes to the cause?

Many thanks, Steve

marlot

You can look individual charities up here: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en

I tend to favour local charities, where most of the team are volunteers. Indeed, I now volunteer at a couple of them.

gmje

I agree thats a lot of money - they always justify by saying the want to attract the right person but when I think about the volunteer crew-who dont get paid - makes me cross………..sorry for the rant I dont know the answer to your question

badmemory

Look at some other charities & that will look quite low.

twopenny

I used to work for a big charity. Head office even had a separate building that was a chapel.

There are a lot of small charities doing great work in the community largely with volunteers. You could see what they need and save to buy something you can give directly. Then you'd know your money would be going where it's needed.

p00hsticks

When you look at the cost of a new lifeboat, the amount the CEO is being paid pales into insignificance.

stevec59

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81904620#Comment_81904620

True, but if the CEO and other staff were paid less, that would leave more money for

Tunstallstoven

Me personally… I am a big fan of effective altruism as a movement. There are organisations that not only look at how well money is spent within a charity, but also how much "bang for buck" there is in lives saved or dramatic life improvements. As such, many of the charities focus on sub-saharan Africa and some of the other poorest regions in the world where people suffer the most and can be helped the most with small amounts.

If this sounds of interest, a great place to start would The Life You can Save:

https://www.thelifeyoucansave.org/

Whilst it is US based, it will help give a good overall account of the aims and philosophy behind effective altruism. And you can still donate via JustGiving. There are however similar UK based options which I can share if this is of interest to you or anyone else.

Great questions btw and lovely to hear you are doing your bit and thinking about how to do it most effectively :)

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6657412/what-charities-have-the-most-money-going-to-the-cause

According to the Charities Commission they have 1 employee with £140-150k salary.

Its slightly old but https://www.theguardian.com/society/salarysurvey/table/0,,791752,00.html could also be of interest as it shows prior position of CEO salary plus it as a ratio of revenue

The reality is that its an organisation with a £250m turnover and many would probably be more worried if they hired someone on £30k who's biggest business they've run was a one site greasy spoon cafe.

Its certainly not an inconsiderable salary but its not a massive income, some companies in the FTSE250 have a lower turnover but the average reward packages of their CEOs you'd be adding a 0 to the RNLIs. There arent many who are middle age and want to work for free when they could be earning £500k plus elsewhere.

stevec59

Thanks everyone

EnPointe

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81904662#Comment_81904662

no it wouldn't
there are household name or once household name charities who are in financial dire straits due to amateurism prevading well into the 1990s if not 200s in their governance and structures leading to money bleeding away