During the holidays it's obvious that the newspapers will rely on some old news but the article I saw on the Charities Commission in the Dominion Post took the biscuit. The reporter had clearly scored a real coup. A new website was about to make it easy for the public to find out more about charities and their operations. For those of us working in the fundraising and sponsorship sector, we know that the Charities Commission website is at least three years old and has been showing us data about charities for the last three financial years.
What is more newsworthy about the Charities Commission is the sad news that the independent body is about to become part of Internal Affairs, lose its independence and probably lose its expertise. Happily, before that happens they have recently (about six months ago) launched a really useful tool - the ability to search the database in a complex manner. The information allows us to put paid to nonsense comments from the public about the state of philanthropy in this country, and allows us to review the fundraising successes or otherwise of charities. There is now three years of information which allows us to see whether trends are developing. I foresee a new opportunity for researchers, for fundraising specialists and people like me to take fundraising from an art to a science!
