Global People Limited

This is a review 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).

‘Global People Limited’ is one such Member.

[UPDATE on 8 July 2020:  Global People Limited is no longer in the list of Members.]

COVID-19 – nothing on the website.

Although it does not seek donations on its website, the website says that it does fundraise^[1]:

But is contradicted by

• • The Statement of Comprehensive Income reporting no donations (but $808K ‘Worker income’),
  • The Annual Information Statement (AIS) 2019 saying ‘No’ to ‘Does the charity intend to fundraise in the next reporting period’, and
  • The AIS reporting zero for ‘Donations and bequests’.

Confusing.

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”:

1. Check the charity’s name.
2. Ask for identification from anyone seeking a donation.
3. Be careful of online requests for donations.
4. No tax deduction doesn’t mean the charity is not a legitimate one, and
5. Find out more about how the charity says it uses donations.

Here’s the results for ‘Global People Limited’, with #5 supplemented by the essentials of the ACNC’s What should I consider when deciding which charity to support?^[2]

1.  There is a registered^[3] charity in that name (Global People).

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2.  Although there is nothing to indicate that Global People uses either door-to-door or street collectors, there is also nothing explaining how it does fundraising.

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3.  NA

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4.  Global People’s ABN record says that it is not entitled to receive tax-deductible gifts. The information provided by the company is consistent with this.

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5.  The use of your donations

Objects

From the constitution [ACNC Register]:

There is no mention here, the rest of the constitution, or anywhere else in the company’s materials of the Gospel, Jesus Christ, evangelism, Christian, mission, missionaries, or anything to suggest that their work is faith-based. Why, then, did Missions Interlink admit them as a member:

Why Global Partners would seek membership is more understandable:

Confusing.

Activities

This is what they did in the period to 1 November 2019 [Directors’ Report, Financial Report 2019, ACNC Register]:

^[4]

So, more than the recruitment agency that is described on the home page:

Where the money goes

The audited account of how a charity uses donations is the Financial Report on the ACNC Register^[5].

Directors have a choice between two kinds of reports, special purpose or general purpose. The requirements of the former are less onerous than the latter. The directors of Global People at the time, all professional accountants (two Chartered, one CPA), decided on special purpose.

This is what the Chartered Accountants’ professional body, Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand, has to say about the choice between the two types of reports^[6]:

With 25 workers (see above), a dependency on ‘the receipt of funds from members and donors’ [Notes to the Financial Statements], and revenue of $813K, the evidence is against Global People being one of the exceptions. But that is the choice that the directors made.

And the auditor, Robert Mayberry, also a Chartered Accountant, agreed with them.

One of the implications of their choice is that you can ring Global People’s office and request that they prepare financial statements that answer the question or questions you have about the charity. We strongly doubt that they will agree^[7]. And if they don’t then the accounts presented by the directors are not for you. In fact, they say (in the Notes to the Financial Statements) that you don’t exist:

If you are still happy to reply on the financial statements, here’s what they say about where the money goes:

The lack of any explanation of the ‘Operations’ figure is unhelpful (and a contravention of the Accounting Standard AASB 101 [www.aasb.gov.au]^[8].

The AIS 2019 says that this $813K is ‘Employee expenses’. This matches the declaration in the same Statement that they had 19 full time employees.

But 19 contradicts the 25 figure above. And ‘employees’, and a declaration in the AIS that they had no volunteers, contradicts this information on the website:

Confusing.

Who’s responsible?

From the Directors’ Report [Financial Report 2019], these are the directors responsible for the reporting^[9]:

Brian Thomas

Mark Crawford

Robert Wallace^[10]

Charity response

The introduction to the Mission Interlink standards (see above) includes this statement:

We sent the member a draft of this review. They….did not respond.

End of review.

1. This is supported byThe Statement of Cash Flows [Financial Report 2019, ACNC Register] reporting ‘Cash receipts from members, donors and others’, andA reported dependence on ‘funds from members and donors’ [Notes to the Financial Statements, Financial Report 2019]. ↑
2. 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?

   ↑

3. The ACNC implies, therefore, that it is a ‘legitimate’ charity. But this is not correct – as the ACNC itself points out, registration is voluntary. ↑
4. The ACNC Register says its six countries, and the Annual Information Statement (AIS) 2019 says that its 19 employees. ↑
5. The document labelled ‘Annual Report’ under ‘Documents’ on the Register is the same Financial Report, not an annual report. ↑
6. Enhancing Not-for-Profit Annual and Financial Reporting, March 2013, accessed from their website March 2020.  ↑
7. The accounting profession says that you are therefore ‘potentially interested in the information provided in general purpose financial reports’, the other kind of report. [From Objective of General Purpose Financial Reporting (SAC2), www.aasb.gov.au]. ↑
8. As is ‘Payables’ as a description for 100% of the $176K liabilities. ↑
9. And also the current directors. ↑
10. The board is responsible to the members. Directors must be members. There were 15 members at 30 June 2019. ↑