What charities have the most money going to the cause?

Undervalued

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

But if poorer decisions were then made by the (presumably) lower grade staff that would work for less money the charity might be worse off overall! Or, in other words, pay peanuts and get monkeys!

Very difficult to quantify.

37403

It is very hard to determine how much money a charity spends on the good causes they exist to support because if you look up companies house or the charity regular for accounts, you will see a term (I can't recall the exact words, but something like) 'charitable activities'.

Here is the problem with that. So that is the cost of delivering the aims of the charity, distinct from administration, cost of fundraising etc. However, the cost of charitable activities can include over generous salaries for staff, pensions, consultants and many other things. Some real life examples, buying a new van instead of hiring one for a short term piece of work. Paying people to go overseas to do something when they already have partners on the ground. Having a large staff to deliver a small amount of work. The list could go on.

I'm of the opinion that most big charities are there for the interests of the big charity.

As others have said, maybe there are local things that are better run, or that you have more awareness of where the money is going. A charity near me is building a building at the moment. I can see it getting built and I can see they are getting great value for money.

Regarding lifeboats, there are good independent lifeboats that are worthy of support: nila.org.uk

stevec59

I ended up donating to a local charity, all run by volunteers