Came across this by accident...........
http://savethechildren.sandbag.uk.co...8--seeds+.html

Seems like a good idea !

--
Jenny (the Netherlands)
remove squirrel to reply

JennyC wrote:
Came across this by accident...........
http://savethechildren.sandbag.uk.co...8--seeds+.html

Seems like a good idea !

It's lovely. I like the 'sneezing elephant' gift. I might offer this
one )

On 13/10/06 17:19, in article , "JennyC"
wrote:

Came across this by accident...........
http://savethechildren.sandbag.uk.co...8--seeds+.html

Seems like a good idea !

It's a very good idea indeed. I have a God daughter who usually sends me a
goat for Christmas, via a family somewhere desperately impoverished. It's
an excellent notion and you have helped me decide what she's getting this
year.

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

On Fri, 13 Oct 2006 18:19:15 +0200, "JennyC"
wrote:

Came across this by accident...........
http://savethechildren.sandbag.uk.co...8--seeds+.html

Seems like a good idea !

How much of the £10 you give will actually be used to buy seeds?
£1? £2?

And how much will be used for a new BMW or computer for the MD of Save
the children?

"The Invalid" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 13 Oct 2006 18:19:15 +0200, "JennyC"
wrote:

Came across this by accident...........
http://savethechildren.sandbag.uk.co...8--seeds+.html

Seems like a good idea !

How much of the £10 you give will actually be used to buy seeds?
£1? £2?

And how much will be used for a new BMW or computer for the MD of Save
the children?


Exactly :-((

Saw a 'wonderful' example of how money was wasted at the RNLI and have never
subscribed since and on talking about it, was given even more examples. Such
as the Inflatable Repair Station at East Cowes HAD to spend their property
maintenance budget quickly for a certain year or it would not be allocated
the next year. So they re painted the buildings, even though they did not
need it.

If you DO wish to subscribe the RNLI, make it a personal donation for a
certain piece of equipment at a lifeboat station itself :-)) Been there,
done that, got the RNLI sticker :-))

Mike

The Invalid writes
On Fri, 13 Oct 2006 18:19:15 +0200, "JennyC"
wrote:

Came across this by accident...........
http://savethechildren.sandbag.uk.co...8--seeds+.html

Seems like a good idea !

How much of the £10 you give will actually be used to buy seeds?
£1? £2?

And how are you going to get your £1 or £2 worth of seeds to the right
place any cheaper? Or are you saying that it's better not to give at all
just in case some of the money is not used as wisely as you hope.

There is a web (sorry, have lost the url) which summarises for all the
major charities the proportion of donations that go to administration
costs.
--
Kay

"K" wrote in message
...
The Invalid writes
On Fri, 13 Oct 2006 18:19:15 +0200, "JennyC"
wrote:

Came across this by accident...........
http://savethechildren.sandbag.uk.co...8--seeds+.html

Seems like a good idea !

How much of the £10 you give will actually be used to buy seeds?
£1? £2?

And how are you going to get your £1 or £2 worth of seeds to the right
place any cheaper? Or are you saying that it's better not to give at all
just in case some of the money is not used as wisely as you hope.

I would love to be able to send seed directly to people but that is of
course inpractical.

There is a web (sorry, have lost the url) which summarises for all the
major charities the proportion of donations that go to administration
costs.
Kay

Found this:
http://www.savethechildren.org/financial/index.asp

Ans a survey on how much we trust charities:
http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk...eytrustrpt.pdf

Jenny

On 14/10/06 09:55, in article , "K"
wrote:

The Invalid writes
On Fri, 13 Oct 2006 18:19:15 +0200, "JennyC"
wrote:

Came across this by accident...........
http://savethechildren.sandbag.uk.co...8--seeds+.html

Seems like a good idea !

How much of the £10 you give will actually be used to buy seeds?
£1? £2?

And how are you going to get your £1 or £2 worth of seeds to the right
place any cheaper? Or are you saying that it's better not to give at all
just in case some of the money is not used as wisely as you hope.

There is a web (sorry, have lost the url) which summarises for all the
major charities the proportion of donations that go to administration
costs.

This 'what proportion' thing is always difficult. On the one hand a
charity does have admin costs and some would say that professional fund
raisers justify their salaries because of the contacts and professional
approach they bring to such things. I used to be the local chairman of the
Leukaemia Research Fund, which used to give a high proportion of each £1 to
the charity, from what I remember.
In the end, I think people tend to give to the charity that most affects
them or someone they know, or which appeals to their personal interest and
imagination. For example, Ian Botham is a strong supporter of the LRF and I
was chairman when he first became involved. That was not because members of
his family had leukaemia but was because he had seen children with it and
had become so emotionally involved that he felt he must do what he could to
help. He did one of his famous walks for us, round the 12 parishes and if it
wasn't the first, it was certainly one of the earliest ones. He's gone on
to give great publicity ever since.
The RNLI gets my whole-hearted support because they do an immensely
dangerous job, entirely as volunteers, except for the engineers who are, I
think, retained on a full time basis for obvious reasons. What it would
cost for a government funded service on the same basis and how it would be
run isn't something I care to think about! This breakdown from their own
site speaks for itself:
"Our running costs averaged around £330,000 (€484,510) per day in 2005. For
every £1 raised, 78p was spent on operations, 3p was spent on support and
19p was spent on fundraising."
There's another excellent charity called Intermediate Technology which also
gives simple tools and seeds to third world countries so that they can feed
themselves without the cost of oil, petrol and repairs to machinery. I see
that they're now called Practical Action: http://www.itdg.org.uk/
The awful thing in terms of decisions is how many charities there are
needing and deserving support - the leaflets just pour into the mail at this
time of year.

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

JennyC wrote:
I would love to be able to send seed directly to people but that is of
course inpractical.

Last year when we wanted to give money to the Pakistan earth quaker
disaster and I spent perhaps a whole day in total searching the web
looking for organisations on the ground trying to understand what
system was in place to help those poor people. In a forum I found a
young student who was studying in the state. He had returned to
Pakistan and kept a diary of his accounts there. Through him I found an
organisation based at the university of Asad Jammu - where women and
children were brought after the earthquake. I checked it with some
friends in Bradford and donated the money directly to them.

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 14/10/06 09:55, in article , "K"


"Our running costs averaged around £330,000 (?484,510) per day in 2005.
For
every £1 raised, 78p was spent on operations, 3p was spent on support and
19p was spent on fundraising."


--
Sacha
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/


and you don't question the heading 'operations', 'support' or 'fundraising'?

Under what heading would the petrol and car running expenses for 3 or 4
suited gentlemen to travel from Poole to Southampton. Over on the Red Funnel
Car Ferry to East Cowes to the Inflatable Depot. Jump into the Yard Launch
with further members of the depot at about noon, cruise up river to the
Folly Inn and have lunch, then cruise back at about 3 00 pm and then depart
back to Poole via the Car Ferry..

How many little school girls have held front garden sales and raised their
few 'very important pounds to them', only to have it spent on some 'jolly'
for those in Head Office.

RNLI STINKS at Head Office level and people like Hubbard are sucked in by
the paperwork and advertising :-(((

Give the money to where it works. Buy equipment for the Stations.

Mike

Sacha writes

This 'what proportion' thing is always difficult. On the one hand a
charity does have admin costs and some would say that professional fund
raisers justify their salaries because of the contacts and professional
approach they bring to such things.

Snip

The awful thing in terms of decisions is how many charities there are
needing and deserving support - the leaflets just pour into the mail at this
time of year.

Which is of course exactly why charities need their professional fund
raisers. They can no longer rely on it being 'a good cause' - they're
competing with all the other good causes. And that requires being able
to hire good publicisers.
--
Kay

On 14/10/06 13:07, in article , "K"
wrote:

Sacha writes

This 'what proportion' thing is always difficult. On the one hand a
charity does have admin costs and some would say that professional fund
raisers justify their salaries because of the contacts and professional
approach they bring to such things.

Snip

The awful thing in terms of decisions is how many charities there are
needing and deserving support - the leaflets just pour into the mail at this
time of year.

Which is of course exactly why charities need their professional fund
raisers. They can no longer rely on it being 'a good cause' - they're
competing with all the other good causes. And that requires being able
to hire good publicisers.

I'm afraid so. It's a double edged sword. A year or so after we launched
the LRF in Jersey, we held a drinks party and invited as many of the
island's great and good (i.e. rich!) as we could think of so as to swell our
ranks of supporters. I had an understandably irate phone call from someone
who accused us of using donations to give a party and I was relieved to be
able to tell her that the whole thing, down to the last peanut, had been
paid for by a couple of generous people and had cost the charity nothing but
had considerably raised its profile and its mailing list.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 14/10/06 13:07, in article , "K"

I'm afraid so. It's a double edged sword. A year or so after we launched
the LRF in Jersey, we held a drinks party and invited as many of the
island's great and good (i.e. rich!) as we could think of so as to swell
our
ranks of supporters. I had an understandably irate phone call from
someone
who accused us of using donations to give a party and I was relieved to be
able to tell her that the whole thing, down to the last peanut, had been
paid for by a couple of generous people and had cost the charity nothing
but
had considerably raised its profile and its mailing list.
--
Sacha
South Devon


Dreadful isn't it?

I know exactly how you feel. Do you know, someone got a posting of mine all
wrong and accused me of being the President of RAFA How stupid can you get?
I am not even ex RAF!!

Others have accused me of pocketing the subscription fees for
Associations!!! Shout their mouths off on these newsgroups but it wouldn't
occur to them to ask for a set of accounts!!

Some people just don't think!!!

Mike
Not the President of RAFA

wrote in message
...
On Sat, 14 Oct 2006 15:53:52 +0100, "Mike" wrote:


Dreadful isn't it?

I know exactly how you feel. Do you know, someone got a posting of mine
all
wrong and accused me of being the President of RAFA How stupid can you
get?
I am not even ex RAF!!

Can you believe that the mistake was yours and was considered
deliberate by many.

You have shown yourself up as not knowing very much about RAFA. Might I
respectfully suggest that you take a look at the RAFA site
http://www.rafa.org.uk/ and ask yourself the question, "Is an ex matelot
likely to be the President of this organisation?" and if you feel that there
is a likelihood, you are as stupid as those who advocated it!!!

Mike
http://www.rafa.org.uk/

"Mike" wrote in message
...
wrote in message
...
On Sat, 14 Oct 2006 15:53:52 +0100, "Mike" wrote:


Dreadful isn't it?

I know exactly how you feel. Do you know, someone got a posting of mine
all
wrong and accused me of being the President of RAFA How stupid can you
get?
I am not even ex RAF!!

Can you believe that the mistake was yours and was considered
deliberate by many.

You have shown yourself up as not knowing very much about RAFA. Might I
respectfully suggest that you take a look at the RAFA site
http://www.rafa.org.uk/ and ask yourself the question, "Is an ex matelot
likely to be the President of this organisation?" and if you feel that
there is a likelihood, you are as stupid as those who advocated it!!!

Mike
http://www.rafa.org.uk/


And before some clever Dick or Jane comes on and says "Look at that, he has
even put the RAFA site in his signature, it is because I still had that web
site on my pasteboard instead of my normal one. I made a mistake and am not
too proud to admit it.

Mike
and the proper sig


.................................................. .........
Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association
www.rnshipmates.co.uk
www.nsrafa.com