New website aims to promote transparency in charitable sector

A new website aims to increase transparency in the charity sector by providing information to help members of the public evaluate charities before they donate money.

The website, GoodCharity.ie, was developed by a team of volunteers from Dóchas, Fundraising Ireland, Total Fundraising, The Wheel and Whitebarn Consulting.

Its founders say it will provide information on why some charities pay workers, what charities typically spend on overheads and how to make sense of the financial accounts of individual organisations.

The reputation of much of the charitable sector has been damaged over recent months following revelations over high levels of executive pay at charities such as the Central Remedial Clinic and Rehab.

The new website comes ahead of work on a comprehensive charity register which will require charities to provide financial reports from early 2015 onwards,.

The Charity Regulatory Authority is working on an online register of charities and any charities with CHY number (those with a charitable tax exemption), can be expected to be contacted by the regulator.

Anne Hanniffy, chief executive of Fundraising Ireland, said the goodcharity.ie website would help address many of the public's concerns over how charities are managed and provided donors with some insight into how their funds are spent.

“This is a very positive step to enhancing public trust and confidence in fundraising. The more transparent and open we can be as a sector, the more willing the public will be to donate,” Ms Hanniffy said.

Hans Zomer, director of Dóchas, the umbrella body of overseas development and humanitarian organisations, encouraged people to use the website to support charities that are transparent over how they operate.

Research by the Wheel, an umbrella organisation representing hundreds of charities, estimates that more than 60 per cent of charities say their fundraising had been affected by negative publicity surrounding the Central Remedial Clinic and Rehab controversies.

In a survey published earlier this year, almost half reporting a drop in fundraising of up to 10 per cent since November 2013 while 36 per cent said they had cut back or suspended services in the past year despite an increase on demand for services.