Charity...

How quickly did the Ice-Bucket Challenge disappear from our consciousness? A worthy cause, with an interesting gimmick, that also ensured excellent publicity, and yet is gone in a flash.

Questions over the validity of these kinds of campaigns can spell the death of the most noble cause, with a rumour or two about where the funds are going, (or if they are going anywhere at all), enough to destroy public support in an instant. Often these rumours are justified, sometimes they are baseless, but the damage is always done, and the cause is crippled, for better or worse.

Of course there are many organisations whose fund-raising campaigns are so long-standing that they are by-words in our vocabulary. The Red Shield Appeal,  Red Cross Week. Legacy.
All of these charity groups have excellent reputations and do amazing work with the funds they collect.
It is not so well known that each of these organisations has certain problems with their charities, and they must overcome these in order to maintain their reputation in society.

I have no intention of trying to discredit these charities, nor do I mean to imply that they are alone in not always doing what is best. They are merely examples of what occurs in any organisation that we, the public, entrust with our money to do good on our behalf.

The Red Shield Appeal raises funds for people in need and to support orphanages and shelters...and it has also paid the wages of corrupt, immoral people who have abused children, or covered up the actions of others who have abused.

The Red Cross is a venerable and massive organisation, recognised world-wide, with a reputation for appearing in the world's most troubled spots and administering aid rapidly and impartially. They also have a massive administrative infrastructure and salaried bureaucracy which eats up millions of dollars every year.

Legacy is the charity arm of the Australian RSL, devoted to helping the widows and families of soldiers killed or affected by conflict. They do great work. The RSL Clubs that generate millions through poker machine revenue and membership fees do not contribute ONE CENT to Legacy. All of Legacy's funds are raised by the sale of badges and pins to the public, and by donations from the public. All revenue from RSL Cubs goes back to the clubs.

As I said, I do not wish to crucify these few examples, but I want to use them to illustrate that there is no perfect system of charity, they are all flawed in some way, and we as contributors to them, should be aware of their flaws and decide if we can accept them before we donate.

Speaking as one who has recently required a certain amount of charity from those around me, I think the closest we may come to proper, uncorrupted charity, is what I saw happen to me.
Somebody saw that I needed some help, they looked at what was in their power to do, reached out, gave it to me, and would only accept my thanks.
I can think of several who have done this for me, each in their own way, and did it without prompting. No tax deductibility, no publicity, no recognition. True Charity.

Thanks.