Perth Bible College (Inc)

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).

‘Perth Bible College’ is one such member. It seeks donations on the website^[2] found via Google (the link from Missions Interlink is incorrect).

COVID-19  Not on the home page, but there is a message elsewhere.

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 ‘Perth Bible College’, with #5 supplemented by the essentials of the ACNC’s What should I consider when deciding which charity to support?^[3]

1.  A search of the ACNC Register for ‘Perth Bible College’ leads to a registered^[4]charity in the name Perth Bible College (Inc) (PBC).

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2.  There is nothing to indicate that PBC uses either door-to-door or street collectors.

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3.  The web address begins with a closed padlock symbol, so the website is secure [the ACNC article above^[5]]. PayPal is used so your information should be secure.

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4.  PBC’s ABN record says that it is entitled to receive tax-deductible gifts. But there is no mention of tax on the donation page, nor the PayPal page.

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5.  The use of your donations

For context, see here.

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

The directors at the time (see below) declared that their financial report ‘presents a true and fair view’. The evidence (again) says otherwise:

• One of the four required financial statements, a Statement of Changes in Equity, is missing.
• The Statement of Profit or Loss is materially incorrect.
• The Notes to and forming part of the accounts are materially incomplete.
• The Statement of Financial Position is materially incorrect.

In addition

• the directors choice of special purpose financial statements, as opposed to the kind of statements that are designed for users who cannot ring up the PBC office and command statements tailored to their needs, is arguably inconsistent with PBC’s situation^[6], and
• the auditor, Geoffrey Carslake, for Shreeve & Carslake, both agreed with this choice and said that the financial report ‘presents fairly, in all material respects’ PBC’s financial performance and situation.

Where the money went

If you still want to know where the money went, see the Statement of Profit or Loss [Financial Report 2019].

Who’s responsible?

These are current directors (not shown on the website, but from the ACNC Register):

Eichhorn (sic)

Is it Garth Eichhorn?

George Benney

Is it this George Benney?

John Hoggett

Kerryn Monger

Peter Bain

Peter Burton

Is it this Peter Burton?

Stephen Poisat

Van Oudtshoorn (sic)

Is it Andre Van Oudtshoorn?

Eichhorn, Hoggett, Monger and Van Oudtshoorn were on the board when the financial report was approved.

The board is responsible to the members. The number of members is not disclosed.

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. They received the email, but chose not to respond.

End of review.

1. See here for the previous review. ↑
2. Contrary to what Perth Bible College say in their Annual Information Statement 2019. ↑
3. 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?

   ↑

4. The ACNC implies, therefore, that it is a ‘legitimate’ charity. But this is not correct – as the ACNC itself points out, registration is voluntary. ↑
5. The ACNC’s information (in its article above) is not correct for the Chrome browser; it does not have ‘https’. ↑
6. The requirements of special purpose are less onerous than general purpose. This is what Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand has to say about the choice between the two types of reports:With 12 employees and 15 volunteers, and donors and students producing $1.16 million gross income [Annual Information Statement 2019], the evidence is against PBC being one of the exceptions. ↑