They are probably the best fundraisers in the business, but are Irish health-related charities accountable? Elaine Edwards reports
We give millions of euro each year to help what we see as worthwhile causes and charities, but do we ever think about where the money goes? And just how transparent are the State's main health charities and, for that matter, other charities?
If a survey of four of the most prominent health charities is anything to go by, we can rest assured that the money we donate or otherwise spend annually on daffodils, daisies, happy hearts and sunflowers to show our support is in good hands and properly accounted for.
Nevertheless, the Government plans to introduce comprehensive reforms and a modern statutory framework to govern the charity sector, to ensure total transparency and to safeguard both the public and legitimate charities from potential abuse and fraud.
Four of the major health charities - the Irish Cancer Society, the Irish Heart Foundation, Aware and the Irish Hospice Foundation - chosen because of their relative size, prominence and various fundraising ventures each year, responded immediately and fully to requests about whether they publish their accounts and make them available to the public.
All are registered as limited companies and, as such, are obliged to file their accounts each year with the Companies Registration Office (CRO). All indicated the most recent accounts filed were for the year-end December 2002 and that the preparation of 2003 accounts was either underway or complete. Some include summary accounts in their annual, or chairman's, reports, but provided full accounts on request.
It would be futile to attempt to make direct comparisons between the charities based on their accounts. As one individual employed by one of the four charities said, it would be a case of comparing "apples and oranges".
Different bodies and companies use different (and legitimate) accounting methods. Some, for example, may classify staff pensions or other expenditure as an administrative expense, while others may allocate such expenditure to a different cost centre.
However, the most recent figures are an indication of what they earned and how they spent it. In 2002, the Irish Cancer Society (ICS) recorded income of €9.5 million, almost a quarter of which is raised through its annual Daffodil Day. The ICS spent some €2.4 million on patient care, a further €916,000 on education and information and €882,000 on research. It gave €4.2 million in grants, incurred €1.3 million in fundraising costs, €216,000 in communications costs and €324,000 in administration costs. In terms of overall income, some 27 per cent was spent on patient care in 2002 in contrast with just 4 per cent spent on administration costs.
Aware, which offers support for people suffering from depression, had an income of €1.2 million in 2002. Its total fundraising costs were €353,669 and administration costs were €51,171.
In 2002, Aware spent just over €141,000 of its income on publications, education and research on depression. Some €612,678 was spent on support costs, almost 60 per cent of which were staff-related. In total, the charity spent €5,000 more than it took in for the year.
The Irish Hospice Foundation, which supports the care of terminally ill people, also provided its most recent accounts immediately on request. In 2002, the body recorded a total income of €819,441, some 90 per cent of it from fundraising events such as its annual collection day.
The foundation spent €489,167 on administration, PR and development and "establishment" costs, or almost 60 per cent of its income. Establishment costs of almost €123,000 included rent and rates, depreciation, insurance, light and heat and office cleaning and maintenance. The foundation paid out €128,195 in direct grants to various hospices and on R&D, spent €158,829 on bereavement support services and €113,125 on fundraising support.
The Irish Heart Foundation had income of €3.3 million in 2002, with just under 12 per cent of that earned from Happy Heart weekend. Some 16.5 per cent, or €539,816, came from regional managers' fundraising activities (including church gate collections), a further €215,881 came from the Department of Health and €813,682 from "other income". It spent, for example, more than €1.2 million on health promotion, €171,089 on research and €475,362 on central administration.
John Moran, finance and administration manager with the Irish Heart Foundation, says a single page extract from the accounts is published in the body's annual report each year, although a full set of accounts is also filed with the CRO and is available on request. "There is a statutory requirement that we publish our accounts and they are audited by KPMG," he says.
Geraldine Clare, chief executive of Aware, also indicates the charity, as a registered company, files its accounts with the CRO. "We do it every year and, quite properly, it is a safeguard for directors as well for us to be incorporated as a company, rather than leaving [the responsibility] down to individuals."
Clare welcomes the proposed regulation of charities announced by the Minister of State at the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs earlier this year.
"The public are very generous, but they are entitled to expect transparency and accountability from charities," she says. She takes the view that "a rising tide will lift all boats" and regulation can only offer greater safeguards for those who give to charity and for the charities themselves. There may be a certain "vulnerability" where charities are concerned at present, she says. And if something were to "go wrong" where a charity was concerned, it might stop people donating.