"Wiping Out Poverty Now" charity

[neck]

Hi,

I recently donated some money to an organisation that had a little stand at a Woolies in QLD.

I didn't think twice about it at the time. I thought hey, if they're here and they got permission to be here, they must be legit.

Later I realised that was a dumb assumption to make.

I looked this organisation up and it looks like a rort.

Here is their website, which is badly constructed and full of vague platitudes:

http://www.wipingoutpovertynow.com

Here is their Facebook page, which is fishy AF:

https://www.facebook.com/ryo360.org...vFlZmY4bEcuGYC6mcc0parQzRR3Hp3yPvOI6S-68&_rdr

I'm a temporary migrant in Australia so I don't know how the whole legal/regulatory process goes for charities operating in a public space over here.

How do I report them? Who do I contact? This whole thing looks like a scam.

 

[emilythunder]

@neck I work in the charity sector. Based on their site this is very much not a charity and more like a thinly veiled cult. You can try complaining to https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/protecting-yourself/scams or https://www.acnc.gov.au/raise-concern but unlikely they'll be able to do much. Absolutely complain to shopping centre management though, this is 100% bodgy.

For what it's worth, legit charities are all registered with https://www.acnc.gov.au/ so you can always verify there.

 

[neck]

@emilythunder Thanks. It's infuriating that they were allowed (by whoever manages that shopping centre) to exploit the (naive and uninformed) goodwill of strangers by misrepresenting themselves. I should have done my due diligence before handing out money willy nilly. Lesson learned.

I will definitely take this further, even if it's futile. I hate fake/corrupt charities with a passion.

 

[dewguru]

@neck Generally even the real charities that are in shopping centres are not worth donating to. The stalls are often manned by a subcontracted company that takes a large cut. If you see a charity and you like the idea, get a flyer and then you can donate direct to them later. I'm a volunteer with a charity and we've done shopping centres a couple of times. I wouldn't have an issue with this at all but we also aren't the ones getting in everyone's way, we wait for people to speak to us.

 

[mudassar]

@neck Just looked at the website. So many red flags. The main one being no mention of the group being a registered charity. However this org seems affiliated with Christian religion, so might be sidestepping getting official charity status through the church.

I don’t think a report will get you far but perhaps just chalk it up to a costly life lesson learned?

 

[neck]

@mudassar Christian groups, especially evangelical groups from the USA, Brazil and Australia, have done so much damage to East and South Africa, it's ridiculous. Especially when it comes to their hateful messaging, particularly vis-à-vis homosexuality. They are responsible for actual acts of terrible violence. I hate many of them with a burning passion. It disgusts me that I paid them a single cent.

 

[mudassar]

@neck Oh I’m so this happened to you. I think the suggestion above to contact shopping centre management is a good one. Who knows what they will do about it, but it might make you feel a bit better about it.

 

[resjudicata]

@neck You ended someone's poverty that day.

The dude who took your cash bought a slab and drunk it in the carpark.

Poverty solved well done....

 

[jauswnz]

@neck Never ever give to those charity stands, they are often run by charity collector companies.

I always remember this from 2017.

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/r...y/news-story/bc046a995e9f3fc2c96fca115d91cd3b

The way they word their material makes you think everything collected goes to the charity.

When in reality...

Donors aren’t being told that if they sign up for a 12-month donation, up to 93 per cent of that donation goes to Appco. To clarify, it is in the fine print of the donor agreement — but you would fair dinkum need a magnifying glass to read it.

 

[maarlon]

@neck it is why I only donate food, people who need it will get it. money can disappear due to 'administration" costs

 

[dpardue]

@maarlon for charities with large volunteer workforces, which isn't all of them, money can be more efficient than food because they buy food in bulk and don't have to sort haphazard donations

 

[maarlon]

@dpardue not wrong, but I prefer to donate to local small charities

 

[dpardue]

@maarlon they're often the ones that can make really good use of money

 

[guitar1991]

@maarlon That's just silly. How does the food get distributed? For free?

 

[guidedbythelight]

@neck Most charities are a scam, I find it easier to just not donate to anything.