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Archived: Christian Revival Crusade National Council, charity review

Care:  At least some of the information about this charity is no longer current.  Use the ‘Search charity names’ box to see if there is a later review.  If the latest review has a message like this, you are welcome to make your case for an updated review via email to ted@businessbythebook.com.au.

This is a charity review, a review, for supporters and potential supporters, of the Australian charity Christian Revival Crusade National Council (CRC).

It is structured according to the charity’s entry on the ACNC[i] Register, and its purpose is to supply some information extra to what is there, information that may be helpful in your giving decision.

It is up to you to decide whether any or all of the information presented here is what you need in order to make that decision, and whether you seek any other information, either from the charity itself or from other sources.

Ministry response

Prior to publishing this review, on 19 November 2015, I sent my observations to the charity and invited them to comment. On 24 November I received the following response by email from Peter Gillard, National Administrator:

I have checked out the information you have provided and there is nothing there incorrect.

As CRC Churches International Australia Inc. doesn’t solicit donations from the general public, and is supported wholly by its members and churches, I doubt anyone would be checking us out to see if we were a safe organisation to donate to.

That being said, as everything you have included is freely available online, there are no problems with you publishing.

Organisation of this review

  1. This review is organised according to the headings in the register entry. This is how to use this section of the review:
    • For each heading in the register entry, first read the information under that heading.
    • Then check if that heading is included below. (Headings for which there is no comment are not included.)
  2. There is then a more detailed comment on the Financial Report.
  3. Lastly, there is a section Membership of accountability organisations claimed.

Sources

  • ACNC Register (including links)
  • Internet search on the names under Charity Details (below).
  • CRC websites: www.crcchurches.org and one for its missions operation.
  • No social media links from the Churches site; not sure about the connection of CRC to this Facebook page. The Facebook on the Missions site leads to, without any obvious reason, the page for Jesse Szalay. CRC is not on LinkedIn.
  • State government fundraising licence registers.
  • www.glassdoor.com.au

REGISTRATION DETAILS

Entity Subtype (‘charitable purposes’)

  • A primary sub-type consistent with sharing the Gospel.
  • And that is consistent with the purpose clause in the governing document:

The National Council exists to represent the CRC in Australia in the promotion of Jesus Christ….

CHARITY DETAILS

Legal name

  • The link from the ABN (Charity ABN, below), tells us that CRC is likely an incorporated association.
  • This is confirmed by the Constitution (see Charity’s Document (sic), below) that CRC has lodged with the ACNC.
  • However, there is no association registered in CRC’s name. The name is actually CRC Churches International Australia Incorporated. And that’s the name on the constitution.
  • It appears, therefore, that the charity is registered in the wrong name.

Other Names(s)

  • CRC Missions International is one of CRC’s trading names. As CRC Missions International is operating under that name, CRC needs to register it as a business name.
  • CRC Training College is a not the business name that CRC has registered for its CRC College of Ministry.
  • CRC Churches International Australia is, with the addition of ‘Incorporated’, is another of CRC’s trading names.

Charity ABN

  • Tax deductibility: You cannot claim a tax deduction for a donation to CRC (or any of the other entities mentioned above.)

Charity Street Address

  • This is the address of the Christian Family Centre church.
  • No postal address on the website.

Phone

  • Blank. From the website: (08) 8356 6999

Website

ANNUAL REPORTING

  • AIS 2014:
    • This is the Annual Information Statement.
    • It includes basic financial information. But because you have access to the 2014-15 accounts (see below), it is out-of-date.
  • Financial Report 2014:
    • This National Update 2013-14 is more than a financial report, more like an annual report. It has been superseded by the 2014-2015 Annual Update, available from the right-hand side of any website page footer.
    • The Financial Report is unsigned and undated, but presumably was completed sometime before the auditor signed on 21 August 2014, two months after year end. It was then another three and a half months before it was lodged on the Register.
    • The coverage of finances in this review is left until the section Latest financial report – detail, below.

ABOUT THE CHARITY

Date Established

  • CRC is planning to publish its history on its website.

Who the Charity Benefits

  • Vision
  • Mission
  • Activities (What does CRC do?
    • In the absence of an up-to-date AIS, see the 2014-2015 Annual Update, available from the right-hand side of any website page footer.
  • Outcomes (What was delivered?)
    • In the absence of an up-to-date AIS, see the 2014-2015 Annual Update.
  • Impacts (How were people’s lives improved?)
    • In the absence of an up-to-date AIS, see the 2014-2015 Annual Update.

Size of Charity

If the revenue in the three statements included in the 2014-2015 Annual Update (see Latest financial report – detail, below) are summed, CRC has revenue exceeding the $1 million threshold for the top size of charity.

Financial Year End

  • This means that the next financial report is due by 31 December 2015. Before that the financial information on the Register will be up to 18 months out-of-date.

WHERE THE CHARITY OPERATES

Operating State(s) [ii]

  • Both the CRC Missions Office and CRC Training are run from Victoria, Generations – Children is run from NSW, and CRC has four State Councils that cover all eight states. However, CRC doesn’t have a fundraising licence in any of the seven states having a licensing regime.
  • As an association CRC is a registrable Australian body. If its disclosure here that it operates in all eight states means that it is carrying on business outside South Australia, then it needs to register under Part 5B.2 of the Corporations Act 2001. The lack of an ARBN shows that it has not registered.

Charity’s Document (sic)

  • This is the constitution for CRC Churches International Australia Incorporated, not CRC.

RESPONSIBLE PERSONS

No. of Australian charity governing body memberships

Mike Cronin                            1[iii]

Greg Jones                               5

Ian Miller                               17

Trevor Murphy                       5

Bruce Sharman                       8

Vasilis Vasilakis                      1

Hans Voortman                      2

David Wright                        22

Matthew Wyatt                       3

 

(End of review of the ACNC Register information)

 

Latest financial report – detail

  • The report that is lodged as a Financial Report – the National Update 2013-2014 – does not contain a financial report for CRC. Instead there are three separate financial reports, one each for CRC Churches International Australia Inc., CRC Missions International, and CRC College of Ministry. CRC Churches International Australia Inc is the correct legal name for CRC, and the other two are departments of CRC.
  • Even if it were valid to submit separate reports, all three reports:
    • Have no Notes to the accounts
    • An income statement in a well out-of-date format.
    • No statement of changes in equity
    • No statement of cash flows
    • Have either no audit report or a deficient audit report.
    • No Directors’ Declaration.
  • The next year’s annual report has similar issues.

Membership of accountability organisations claimed

  • Membership by CRC Missions International of Missions Interlink, here.
    • Although they say that their membership list is not publicly available I stumbled across this one on the internet. It shows CRC Missions International was a member as at 3 August 2015.

 

(End of review)

 

[i] Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission, Australia’s national regulator of charities.

[ii] This is how the ACNC explains ‘operating locations’ in their application guide: ‘You need to give details about where in Australia your organisation conducts (or plans to conduct) its activities.’

[iii] Because of the possibility of two (or more) directors having the same name on the register of responsible persons, it is not possible to be definitive about the number of directorships held.

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