Archived: OMF International: 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Care: At least some of the information about this charity is no longer current.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.
OMF International (OMF) is a member of Missions Interlink. Mission Interlink members have to accept a set of standards, the introduction to which includes this statement:
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.
- Find out more about how the charity says it uses donations.
Here’s the results for OMF International [1], with #5 supplemented by the essentials of the ACNC’s What should I consider when deciding which charity to support?[2].
1. There is registered[3] charity in that name.
- The website, however, is predominantly marked ‘OMF Australia’.
- There are two entities with an ABN that have ‘OMF Australia’ in their name:
- But neither of these appear to be related to OMF.
2. NA
3. The “web address begins with ‘https’, but there is no closed padlock symbol next to the web address in the address bar”, so the website is not secure [the ACNC article above]. However, it does not appear that money is transferred via the website.
4. The ‘Support OMF’ page says that donations are not tax deductible. This fits with the ‘Deductible gift recipient status’ shown on the Australian Business Register.
5. This is the most that’s given in the Financial Report for where the funds went:
- How much of the first item goes to employees?
- Who are ‘members’? To where is this money sent? If overseas, which countries?
- Which ‘International OMF Affiliates?
- How does OMF ensure that donations are used for the purposes for which they are given?
I sent OMF a draft of this review. They…did not respond.
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Contact me if you need a more in-depth review.
- See here for last year’s 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?
- The ACNC implies, therefore, that it is a ‘legitimate’ charity. But this is not correct – as the ACNC itself points out, registration is voluntary. ↑