Making a bequest to a charity organisation?

[acequion]

My elderly mother and I are in the process of making new wills. We want to make money bequests to some charity organisations. Two are small local ones. My mother is a cancer survivor and would like to leave something to a cancer charity. But we are not sure what the best ones would be and with scandals about charity organisations over the past few years, we are not even sure if it's a good idea to leave money to a large organisation like The Irish Cancer Society, for example.

Has anybody any ideas that would help us decide who the beneficiary should be, ie for a cancer charity? Or can large charity organisations be trusted these days? Thanks so much in advance.

 

[Right Winger]

Your mother and you are to be commended on your generosity. The last thing you'd want is for that to be taken advantage of and frittered away in expenses and overheads. Perhaps seek out small, local charities that you personally know do good work?

You are right to be cautious of large organisations. As a rule of thumb, if a charity boasts a "Chief Executive Officer" I'd run a mile. It's probably also got a Director of Operations, a Director of Fundraising and a Director of Advocacy each with a nice office, secretarial support and generous expense allowances. That's a hell of an overhead before a cent goes to the good cause

 

[Brendan Burgess]

I am not sure that smaller size is a great help in your decision.

The Irish Cancer Society seems to have a good reputation. Has it been involved in any scandals? It is a large organisation, so of course it has a Chief Executive. It probably does advocate on behalf of cancer patients, so it probably has a Director of Advocacy.

One thing you should consider is giving them a gift while you are alive.
If you leave them €10,000 in your will, they get €10,000
If you gift them €10,000 while you are alive and paying taxes, they get a 41% top up from the government.

Brendan

 

[Ravima]

Make sure you gift the correct charity! You could be in a nursing home owned by Ravima, called Happy Days but let to Tommy. You might want to give the gift to either Ravima or Tommy, so ensure that you and your solicitor identify the correct beneficiary. Ravima might own Happy Days and Tommy has a company trading as Happy Days. There WILL be hassle if cheque arrives simply made out to Happy Days

 

[Brendan Burgess]

The Irish Cancer Society Annual Report is here

https://www.cancer.ie/sites/default/files/2022-11/ICS%20AR21_Final_Web.pdf

They have assets of €34m and spend about €23m a year. So I would expect them to have a Chief Executive and all the other Directors appropriate to a large company. They did spend €5m on fundraising, which seems high.

 

[Right Winger]

I am not sure that smaller size is a great help in your decision.

The Irish Cancer Society seems to have a good reputation. Has it been involved in any scandals? It is a large organisation, so of course it has a Chief Executive. It probably does advocate on behalf of cancer patients, so it probably has a Director of Advocacy.

One thing you should consider is giving them a gift while you are alive.
If you leave them €10,000 in your will, they get €10,000
If you gift them €10,000 while you are alive and paying taxes, they get a 41% top up from the government.

Brendan

Very good point about the tax efficiency of giving while living. You can also take the opportunity to approach a small organisation you know and donate to a specific project so you know exactly where the money is going. Eg, a specific purchase etc etc.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

approach a small organisation you know and donate to a specific project so you know exactly where the money is going.

That might give you some satisfaction but doesn't change anything.

If they are buying a machine, paying a nurse and flying someone to America for treatment, and you say that you will buy the machine, they will just use the other money for paying for the nurse and flying someone to America.

The only way that might work is if you pick a charity that does exactly the type of cancer you support e.g. cervical cancer - then you know that your donation will be spent on that.

Brendan

 

[Farma1]

Your mother and you are to be commended on your generosity. The last thing you'd want is for that to be taken advantage of and frittered away in expenses and overheads. Perhaps seek out small, local charities that you personally know do good work?

You are right to be cautious of large organisations. As a rule of thumb, if a charity boasts a "Chief Executive Officer" I'd run a mile. It's probably also got a Director of Operations, a Director of Fundraising and a Director of Advocacy each with a nice office, secretarial support and generous expense allowances. That's a hell of an overhead before a cent goes to the good cause

There potentially speaks someone who has never needed the services of the Irish Cancer Society. Once you or a loved one has availed of their services, especially the night nurses end of life support, you may see it differently. Theres a reason why so many volunteer to collect for them on daffodil day. Do they need decent leadership to produce an effective organisation at that scale and breadth of scope, yep I think they do. Could most of their leadership earn far more money elsewhere, yes they could. As others have said, by all means do your research into each one and the difference it makes, but don't write off the bigger ones 'as a rule of thumb' as many of them are the most effective at driving real change. A good chunk of the money goes to cancer research too, which means that in the last 25 years, you have a 50% higher chance of surviving cancer for 5 years post diagnosis than you had then. Organising services like night nurses on a small scale is virtually possible and needs bigger charities (could the HSE do it - that's a different debate altogether!!)

Very few 'boast a CEO' as you put it, the bigger ones have concluded that the organisation can make a bigger difference with effective leadership. I personally would happily support the ISPCC and the ICS and a couple of others, and I'm sure others would have preferences too.

 

[llgon]

Could most of their leadership earn far more money elsewhere, yes they could.

Just wondering if you have anything to back this up. If it is the true, there should be plenty of examples of charity bosses moving to bigger positions in the private sector.

 

[jpd]

Ot better paid position in another charity?

 

[llgon]

Ot better paid position in another charity?

Yes, I don't doubt there are good promotional opportunities within the charity sector. I took elsewhere as meaning outside the sector.

 

[MOB]

A charitable legacy creates an overhead in the administration of the estate . It is not disproportionate to the purpose of ensuring transparency and accountability, but bear in mind that it is a cost. One legacy of €10,000 is far more cost efficient than five legacies of €2k each.