Charities receive small return from clothes banks contracts
Howard Lake | 29 April 2013 | News
Two major Irish charities are reported to be reviewing their options with clothes collection companies after a television investigation found that they were receiving a small return from agreements with private companies. In addition, a reporter went undercover "in the multi-million euro clothes recycling business to reveal how bogus operators are preying on the generosity of the public".
Following RTE’s Prime Time programme, Breast Cancer Ireland and the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) told the Irish Times that they would be reviewing arrangements.
Prime Time found that individual charity banks could generate as much as €7,000 but the charity could end up with only €150. Breast Cancer Ireland and ISPCC, in common with other charities, have a contract with private companies who collect the donated clothes and pay the charity a fee.
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Both charities have refused to reveal details of their arrangements with the private companies, citing commercial sensitivities. This has led the Irish Charity Shops Association and The Wheel, a representative body for charities, to call for more transparency.
Ivan Cooper, The Wheel’s director of advocacy, said that current voluntary disclosure of financial agreements with third party fundraisers was not working and what was needed was the implementation of the 2009 Charities Act which required such disclosure. The Act has not been implemented due to government financial pressures.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.