# Charity returns £100,000 grant after "communication failure"

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2007/03/29/charity-returns-100000-grant-after-quotcommunication-failurequot/
- Published: 2007-03-29T12:37:21+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

The Motor Neurone Disease Association has returned a donation of £100,000 from the
Stone-Mallabar Charitable Foundation, according to Third Sector magazine. The unusual
decision came after the association decided that the funder’s requirement that it
be spent on a particular project was not consistent with the charity’s strategic
objectives.

The decision was a brave one for the MNDA, but correct. The fact that it has become
public knowledge should also redound to the charity’s credit.

Indeed, both funder and recipient seem to have realised that there was a genuine
communication failure between them. Jonathan Stone, founding trustee of the Stone-
Mallabar Foundation, told Third Sector: “There was a failure of communication, but
that was yesterday, and we are getting on with our lives.”

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It is encouraging to see two charities adopt such a professional stance over what
could be a potentially damaging issue.

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