Archived: YWAM Southlands Melbourne: mini charity review for donors

 Mini charity review of Youth With A Mission Melb Inc (YWAMM)^[1] as an organisation that seeks donations^[2]. (Including the answers to the questions that the Australian charity regulator, the ACNC, suggests that you ask.)

Is YWAMM registered?

• As a charity, yes.
• Other registrations:
  • As a Victorian incorporated association (A0005653U).
  • Not registered for fundraising in any of the seven states that have a fundraising licence regime. This includes the state in which they operate.
    • The law in this area is not straightforward – is an internet invitation ‘fundraising’ for instance? – and advice varies, so check with the charity before drawing any conclusions.

What do they do?

• No description found on the website.
• This is the description of their activities in the AIS 2014:
  • By running religious training courses that get the students involved with local, national and inter national (sic) community service projects for all our staff.

Do they share the Gospel?

• Sharing the Gospel is not explicitly included in the objects (in the constitution).

What impact are they having?

• Nothing found.

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

• The expenses are not classified in a way that allows this calculation.

Can you get a tax deduction?

• Not to YWAMM, but to the Youth With A Mission Melb Inc Building and Maintenance Fund.
  • This Fund is one of the donation options on the website.
  • It is not mentioned in the Financial Report 2014.

Is their online giving secure?

• PayPal is used, so yes.

Is their reporting up-to-date?

• Yes (five months after their year-end).
  • But if you are considering a large donation, I would ask for more up-to-date financial information – the accounts are for a year end that is now nearly 17 months ago.

Does their reporting comply with the regulator’s requirements?

• AIS 2015: Not quite.
  • Outcomes missing.
  • Donations are not shown.
  • The wrong type of financial statements are specified.
• Financial Report 2015: No
  • There is no audit report.
  • The Committee members’ declaration is unsigned.

What financial situation was shown by that Report?

• No obvious concerns.

What did the auditor say about the last financial statements?

• NA. See two questions back.

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

• Yes.

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

• ‘General Donation’, ‘School Building & Maintenance Fund’, ‘School Fees’, ‘Seminar/Outreach’, ‘Staff Donation/Payment’, and ‘Other’.

Who are the people controlling the organisation?

• They are not shown on the website.
• The ACNC Register says that there are four directors (which is the minimum required by the constitution):
  • Stephen Aherne
  • Jade Baravilila
  • Fay Collins
  • Nicholas Matthews
• The committee is accountable to the members of the company.

To whom are YWAMM accountable?

• Not claimed on the website, but they are members of Missions Interlink.
  • For one opinion on the strength of this accountability, see the section Activities in this review.

Are they responsive to feedback?

• When sent a draft of this review, they did not respond.

1. This name is the one on the ACNC Register. The asic.gov.au registration has ‘(Melbourne)’ instead. The name in the title is the name they use on the internet. It is not a registered business name. ↑
2. Via an unregistered group called YWAM Southlands; their website is the destination for the address www.ywammelbourne.org. ↑