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1. PRE-LISTENING TASK. b. Look at the list of charities and charitable causes below. Which do you think are the most and least deserving?
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1. PRE-LISTENING TASK
1. Discuss with your partner:
a. Have you ever given money to charity or worked for charity?
b. Look at the list of charities and charitable causes below. Which do you think are the most and least deserving?
- a charity that helps old people with food and housing;
- a hospice for people who are dying of an incurable disease;
- an organization that encourages people to sponsor children in the Third World;
- cancer research;
- a charity that helps people with HIV and AIDS;
- a group that believes we should not exploit animals in any way at all;
2. LISTENING
Listen to the three charity appeals and fill in the chart.
| Who or what charity tries to help | How the charity helps | Some of their successes and/or problems | |
| Amnesty International | |||
| RSPCA(Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) | |||
| Drought and Famine in Africa |
ADDITIONAL TEXTS
CHARITY
1. What is a charity?
A charity is any organisation that is judged to have an ‘exclusively’ charitable purpose. This means that the organisation is not involved in making money for a group of owners or shareholders. All the money, after expenses, that a charity raises must be invested in projects which are beneficial to the community in some way. Organisations such as these are often referred to as being a part of the ‘voluntary sector’ or a ‘not-for-profit’ organisation - though not all not-for-profit organisations are charities.
To become a charity the aims and goals of an organisation must fall into one of four categories. These are:
- Relieving poverty or hardship, such as old age, disability or illness
- Advancing education, including training and research
- Advancing religion, including providing or preserving places of worship
- Other benefits to the community, such as drug schemes, human rights activities, community services and promoting public health through medicine or sport.
2. Why become a charity?
Charities are viewed differently from other organisations by the government and given special treatment to help them direct as much money as they can into their chosen cause. Registered charities also carry a degree of trust and authority with the public that other groups don’t always have.
Tax: if you are a registered charity, you don’t have to pay income tax, corporation tax, or capital gains tax on most of your income and gains, and in some cases a charity is exempt from stamp duty.
Donations: you can claim ‘gift aid’ on any donations made by a taxpayer, where the government increases the value of the donation by a fixed percentage. Gifts to charities are also free of inheritance tax.
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Property rates: charities pay no more than 20% of normal business rates on the buildings which they use and occupy for their charitable purposes.
Fundraising: it can be easier for a charity to raise funds from grant-making trusts and local government than it is for non-charitable bodies. Members of the public also feel more confident about giving money to a registered charity.
Influence: as a charity it is more likely that you’ll be invited to give advice or serve on groups, for example relevant local authority working groups.
Advice: if you have questions on an issue you feel unsure about, you can ask the Charity Commission for advice.
3. What rules do charities have to follow?
The Charity Commission is the government’s regulator for charities in England and Wales and its key purpose is to ensure that all charities remain independent of government or commercial interests.
One of the ways it achieves this is by making sure that all charities are publicly accountable. Each year the commission audits the accounts of any charity that has a yearly income of over Ј10, 000, and these accounts are open to the public. Also available to everyone is a list of all the registered charities in England and Wales.
Charities in Scotland are monitored by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator and in Northern Ireland by the, Department for Social Development though the majority of advice available from the Charity Commission is still useful to these charities.
As well as public accountability there are a number of restrictions and responsibilities that come with being a charity. Some of these rules may affect the way you run the group. The rules include:
- Limited political activities - no charity can be set up with the key aim of changing the law on a particular subject
- Strict rules on trading
- No personal financial gain can be made by those involved – except salaries paid by incorporated charities
- Financial accounts must be submitted to the Charity Commission
There are many other laws governing charities which are described by the Charity Commission. Should your group become a charity it is essential that you obey them as breaking them is a criminal offence.
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