Friends of Indian Evangelical Mission Australia
Care: At least some of the information about this charity is no longer current.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 review[1] in the series ‘Members of Missions Interlink’, Missions Interlink being the Australian Evangelical Alliance Inc‘s ‘network for global mission‘. We review these charities because their membership means that they must sign up to a set of standards, and this, at least on paper, makes them a better bet for your donations (or other involvement).
‘Friends of Indian Evangelical Mission Australia’ is one such member. It seeks donations on the website linked from Missions Interlink.
COVID-19 There’s nothing specifically about COVID-19 on the website.
Donors
The ACNC, in their article, Donating to Legitimate Charities, gives “some things to consider to help you make sure your donation is going where it is intended”:
- Check the charity’s name.
- Ask for identification from anyone seeking a donation.
- Be careful of online requests for donations.
- No tax deduction doesn’t mean the charity is not a legitimate one, and
- Find out more about how the charity says it uses donations.
Here’s the results for ‘Friends of Indian Evangelical Mission Australia’ (FIEMA), with #5 supplemented by the essentials of the ACNC’s What should I consider when deciding which charity to support?[2]
1. There is no registered charity in that name.
Going on what FIEMA does, it is a charity. So it needs to be registered with the ACNC to get exemption from income tax.
An ABN check shows that it is an unincorporated entity.
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2. There is nothing to indicate that FIEMA uses either door-to-door or street collectors.
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3. The website is not secure. However, there is no online giving facility.
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4. FIEMA’s ABN record says that it is not entitled to receive tax-deductible gifts. The website information is consistent with this.
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5. The use of your donations
There are no financial statements publicly available. So you’ll have to ask FIEMA for them. (Missions Interlink requires FIEMA to “have…a clear and appropriate financial statement which has been approved by its auditor.”)
Who’s responsible?
From the website
Impact
There is nothing on the website about the impact of the donations.
Charity response
The introduction to the Mission Interlink standards (see above) includes this statement:
We sent the member a draft of this review. Although they received the email, they chose not to respond.
End of review.
- See here for the previous review. ↑
- A section in the article, Donating and Volunteering:
- Focus on the nature of the charity’s work, its beneficiaries and the impact the charity is having in the community.
- Is it clear what the charity is trying to achieve and how its activities work towards its objectives?
- Would you like to spend your money, or time if volunteering, to support these objectives?
- Is the charity being transparent about its activities?