More than needed

In a Straits Times report carried on January 16, 2005, the headline read: Do not raise more funds than needed, says Balaji

CHARITIES should not raise more money than they really need, and when they do raise funds, should do it morally, said Dr Balaji Sadasivan, Senior Minister of State for Health.

Apparently some members of the government are already aware that some charities have gone overboard with their fund-raising. This article appeared on the same day as the column The problem with charity written by Sumiko Tan (I have attached it in Charity Cynic).

Encouraging as it sounds, such persuasion would probably fall on deaf ears. Where do you draw the line to say how much is needed? If possible, a charity would definitely want more money, so it can do more. If charities have enough, then there probably wouldn't be so many needy people. The needs and wants of a charity is convoluted and mere words of persuasion cannot materialise.

Perhaps what we need is a Non-Government Organisation (NGO) to be overall in charge of all the charities operating in Singapore to audit the operations of the charitable organisations here. It is also good to remember that fund-raising is only one aspect of charities. The long term solution is to create educational awareness and encourage volunteerism, id est, to tackle the root of the problem. (See Charitable Heart)