Archived: WEC: 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Care: At least some of the information about this charity is no longer current.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.
This is a charity review of WEC, a charity that seeks donations on the internet, and is a ‘Member Organisation’ of Missions Interlink.
The Australian charities regulator, the ACNC, in their Factsheet: Making sure your donation gets to where it needs to, gives “some steps to consider to help make sure your donation is going where it is intended.”
- Check the organisation’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 are the answers for WEC:
1: No such charity on the Register of charities. And no ABN on the website’s home page to use in the ACNC’s search box.
On ABN Lookup, ‘WEC’ is a trading name held by a Wagner Cardoso. And ‘WEC Co’ is a business name held by HRL Electrical Pty Ltd.
Further down the WEC home page, we see that ‘WEC’ is an acronym for ‘Worldwide Evangelisation for Christ’. But there’s nothing in this name on the Register. And nothing on ABN Lookup.
But gold when we go to ASIC’s database: WEC is likely W.E.C. (i.e., with full stops between the letters), either W.E.C. Incorporated, or W.E.C. International:
The Register than shows us that the WEC of the website is indeed a registered charity.
Not a confidence-inspiring start to our due diligence. (Especially if you look at the ‘Historical details’ on the ABN record; it shows a name change on 30 May 2000 from WEC International to W.E.C. International. So why are they using the old name on their website and with Missions Interlink? And without having registered it, or WEC International Australia, as business names?)
2. NA
3. WEC’s “web address begins with ‘https’ and…there is a closed padlock symbol next to the website’s URL in the address bar”. A secure way to give to WEC.
4. The ABN record says no tax deduction. But this doesn’t match what WEC says:
There’s no mention of WEC (under either spelling) at Hada. And Hada is not a ‘Christian’ charity anyway. Disappointment #2. End of review[1].
(Think this a bit tough? Proceed to the fifth of the ACNC’s steps, and you’ll probably make the same decision. Most of the issues raised last year remain. Including a holding of financial assets and property for a ‘Medium’ charity, a charity that doesn’t have any employees or keep money for missionaries, large enough for you to ask why they need your money).
- I sent a draft of this review to WEC. Like last year, they did not respond. ↑