Archived: Wesleyan World Missions: mini charity review

Mini charity review of Wesleyan World Missions (WWM), an entity that seeks donations online, and is a member of Missions Interlink. (Including the answers to the questions that the Australian charity regulator, the ACNC, suggests that you ask.)

For the previous review, see here.

Are they responsive to feedback?

I sent them a draft of this review on 30 August 2017. Like last year, they…did not respond.

Is WWM registered?

• WWM is not registered as a charity.
• It is not incorporated.
• It is not even the holder of an ABN (that is, registered as a ‘business’ in its own right).
• A Google search on the name leads to a website for WWM. In smaller print under the top gallery of pictures we learn that WWM is The Missions Arm of the (sic) Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia (WMCA).
• WMCA are registered as a charity.
  • But they still don’t have WWM registered as a business name.
• Both WMCA and WWM are still not licensed to fundraise in any of the seven states that have a licensing regime. The ACNC Register for WMCA says that they don’t operate in Tasmania, so presumably that applies to WWM too. No licence is required any longer for a charity (WMCA) in the Australian Capital Territory, and WMCA may argue that it is exempt in in Queensland because they are a ‘religious order’, and in Victoria because they can marry people. But the other states? And what effect the fact that they have an internet invitation to give?

What do WWM do?

• There is no description on the website.
• From the main menu, we know that they have a training centre in the Solomon Islands and that Australian Wesleyans serve overseas. (The Updates appear to be about more than just Australian activities.)
• WMCA operates overseas, per the ACNC Register, only in Solomon Islands. But donations are also sought by WWM for two projects in Papua New Guinea.

Do they share the Gospel?

• None of the five projects on the giving page include this.

What impact are they having?

• There is still no indication that they are assessing their impact. (I searched for ‘outcomes’ too.)

What do they spend outside the costs directly incurred in delivering the above impact, that is, administration?

• No financial statements for WWM are available.
  • Nor are the financial statements of WMCA available on the ACNC Register. This is because, as a ‘Basic Religious Charity’, they are exempt.

Can you get a tax deduction?

• On the website: ‘Gifts are administered by the Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia and are not tax deductible.’

Is their online giving secure?

• PayPal is used, so yes.

What choices do you have in how your donation is used?

• From the website:
  • ‘Support David Collins’
  • ‘Soto PNG Sponsorship’
  • ‘Support Noro Building Project’
  • ‘Support the Floyds’
  • ‘General Gift’
  • Are the three individuals/families here employees?

Is their reporting up-to-date?

• They are not registered anywhere, so NA.
• The organisation of which they are an ‘arm’, WMCA, submitted its AIS 2016 six and a half months after its year-end (three weeks earlier than last year). (No Financial Report 2016 was required.)

Does their reporting comply with the regulator’s requirements?

• No regulator, so NA.
• And the organisation of which they are an ‘arm’ doesn’t report.

What financial situation was shown in that Report?

• No Report, so NA.
• No financial statements are available on the website.
• And the organisation of which they are an ‘arm’ doesn’t report.

What did the auditor say about the last financial statements?

• No audit, so NA.
• And the organisation of which they are an ‘arm’ doesn’t report.

If a charity, is their information on the ACNC Register complete?

• Not a registered charity, so NA.
• WMCA? Except for a minor omission, the trading name, yes.
  • ‘Phone’, ‘Email’, and ‘Website’ are blank, but they are not compulsory.

Who are the people controlling the organisation?

• No information on the WWM website.
• As they are an ‘arm’ of WMCA, presumably it is the people listed as responsible persons of WMCA on the ACNC Register.
  • Jeffrey Adams
  • Peter Dobson (National Assistant Superintendent)
  • Rosemary Richardson (National Treasurer)
  • Rex Rigby (National Superintendent)
  • Douglas Ring (National Secretary)
  • This board is unchanged from last year.
  • There are 21 directorships on the ACNC Register in the name ‘Jeffrey Adams’, 16 for ‘Rex Rigby’, 12 for ‘Rosemary Richardson’, 12 for ‘Douglas Ring’, and nine for ‘Peter Dobson’. And the register only covers charities, not all not-for-profits, and of course no for-profit organisations.  Therefore, if after eliminating the charities for which a WMCA person is not a director, you are left with the total being more than a handful or so, it would be legitimate for you to question whether his ability to discharge his fiduciary responsibilities is threatened.

To whom is WWM accountable?

• WWM, although it is not registered as a ‘business’ in its own right, is a member of Missions Interlink.
  • This membership is mentioned on neither website.
  • For one opinion on the strength of this accountability, see the section Activities in this review.