Transform Aid International Ltd (Baptist World Aid Australia): charity review

This is a review in the series ‘Members of Missions Interlink. Missions Interlink is ‘the Australian network for global mission’ and a means for a Member to get income tax exemption when it might not otherwise be available^[1].

‘Transform Aid International Ltd’ is one such Member, and an organisation that, under the name Baptist World Aid Australia, seeks donations from the public.

Charity response

Both Members and Associates have to accept a set of standards, the introduction to which includes this statement:

Baptist World Aid Australia ‘welcomes feedback’. I sent the member a draft of this review. Like last year, they did not respond.

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 ‘‘Transform Aid International Ltd’^[2], with #5 supplemented by the essentials of the ACNC’s What should I consider when deciding which charity to support?^[3]

1.  There is a registered^[4] charity in that name.

You have to go to the small print on the ‘Give’ page to see why Baptist World Aid Australia website is used for donations:

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2.  There is nothing to indicate that Transform Aid International Ltd (Transform) uses paid third-party (donation) 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]]. The first page where you enter personal information has the eway logo linked to an explanation of what this means for security.

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4.  Transform’s ABN record says that it is not entitled to receive tax-deductible gifts, but that it operates a fund that can, Transform Aid International Overseas Aid Fund. The website, however, does not match this:

As we saw above, Baptist World Aid Australia is a subsidiary of Transform.

The only mention on the website of the Transform Aid International Overseas Aid Fund is via the Transform constitution.

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5.  The use of your donations

Objects /Mission /Purpose

See ‘Who we are’.

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Activities

See ‘What we do’.

How they do it (from the AIS 2018):

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Sharing the Gospel? ^[6]

No. From the Financial Report 2018:

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Giving options online

Eight. See here.

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Donations revenue

From the Financial Report 2018 (with last year’s figures in the second column):

No breakup of the ‘Monetary’ figure is given, so no comparison with the giving options is possible^[7].

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Cash spent

This is the only information about where the cash went on operating activities (with the figures for last year in the second column):

^[8]

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Resources consumed (i.e. accrual)

This is how that activities translated into expenses incurred:

Only two of the seven terms – the second and third smallest – are defined.

No connection with the giving options (see above) is given.

There is no information on the destination – even the country – of the $10.39 million sent overseas.

That Transform think that more information is useful to donors is shown by the inclusion of these tables in the Annual Report Year Ended 30 June 2018 [page 15 and page 16]:

There is nothing in the Financial Report 2018 on how Transform ensures that (a) the money reaches the overseas organisation, and (b) it is used for the purposes given.

From the Directors’ Declaration [Financial Report 2018], these are the people responsible for the 2018 accounts^[9]:

Philip Noel Newman

Michael Raymond Turnbull

Simon Mark Lynch

Allan Demond

Heidi Tak

John Vincent Hickey

Tara Reid

Bradley Charles Entwistle

Paul Oates

Karen Wilson

Tabitha Mathew

Compared to the current board, Karen, Bradley and Simon are no longer, and Meredith Downey and Michelle Farrall have joined.

Impact

‘Impact’ means the changes for the better in the beneficiaries as a result of Transform’s activities. Transform report on ‘impact’, but apart from a couple of stories, generally one has to infer impact, rather than it being explicit.

No impact reports were found.

1. ↑
2. See here for last year’s review. ↑
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 out-of-date. ↑
6. ‘When Helping Hurts by Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett says this about sharing the Gospel: ‘A host of contextual issues determine the best manner and the appropriate time to present the gospel verbally, particularly in militant Muslim or Hindu settings. But without such a presentation, it is not possible for people to be personally transformed in all their relationships, which is what poverty alleviation is all about [Kindle Locations 1262-1264, Moody Publishers]. ↑
7. Note 19 [Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements] shows that it is tracked though: ↑
8. Although this level of disclosure may be compliant with the letter of the applicable Accounting Standard ( AASB 107), it is not consistent with either the intent of the Standard and paragraphs 14 and 19, or what is reasonable to expect from a major Christ-led charity. ↑ ↑
9. The directors are accountable to the members, but it appears that there are no members who are not also directors [Responsible Persons’ Report, Financial Report 2018]. ↑