To donate to charities seems a simple act, but the decision-making process can be more difficult than it looks. Donors often face a tough choice not about whether to give, but who to give to. Good governance, accountability and transparency play a vital role in winning over a prospective donor's confidence, but unfortunately there are still a number of charities that don't offer sufficient detail about how they use donations.
This is one of the underlying reasons Terry Weir, CFO of Hana Microelectronics, decided to set up the Giving Back Association (GBA) in 2014, after having faced the same dilemma upon deciding to become a donor in the mid-90s.
GBA seeks to help charities provide donors with independent reviews and ratings of charities. The service is without charge, and is simply to help donors make informed decisions.
The Australian expat has been in Thailand since 1990. Speaking from personal experience, he remarked: "My first question was: where can I find a list of charities? Back then the only information available was from a list from the Thai revenue department.
"I started by supporting education for disadvantaged children. Then I wanted to support charities that dealt with mental health. When I could not find which charities provided that type of service, I ended up donating to the government-run Srithanya psychiatric hospital.
"One of the biggest hurdles I faced was that there was no proper database. After that there was no financial information available -- I wanted to know what they spend their money on, how many kids they support, how much support is needed for each kid per year, and much more. This information was not readily available. Another concern was whether the money I donated would be used efficiently."
In retrospect, Weir said it would have been helpful to know more about how the charity was governed. He had more questions than answers, and what he needed was more comprehensive information to make the optimal decision, which is the objective of all donors.
The GBA website (www.givingbackassoc.org) has a tag line: "Helping donors to help charities." Its central feature is a table of "Charity Ratings" that lists a number of charitable projects based on public information from the charity's website, and additional information provided by the charity during a scheduled visit by their team. At first it was not easy to set up the operation.
"How to set up and maintain the website economically was a concern," says Weir. "The solution was to use a web builder, [with which] anyone, including me, could establish a web domain.
"I had to find someone full-time who could read and write Thai and English and was interested in GBA activities to maintain the website and do the charity reviews, which I later edit before it's published on the website.
"We then needed an office, which Hana Microelectronics provides without charge."
Weir said he realised that for their rating system to be credible, they had to pick a well-established system. They found US-based Charity Navigator's rating system, and modified it for local conditions in Thailand. In a nutshell, Charity Navigator's rating system examines two broad areas of a charity's performance: financial health and governance. In addition, GBA sends its staff to visit the facilities and conduct interviews with management.
"Over time we could tweak the rating system, which is both to help donors get a snapshot of a charity's level of governance and financial efficiency, and also provide pointers to the charities on how they can improve their governance and financial efficiency, and also seeing how other charities are evaluated by reading their reviews and ratings," he said.
Speaking about the future, Weir remarked: "GBA is at an early stage. Our next step is to recruit another staff to present GBA to corporate CSR departments, and show them how using GBA can save them time in their due diligence of the charities they're looking to support.
"Once we can achieve widespread use by the companies, we can reach sustainability. I hope to achieve that by end of 2017."
The Human Help Network Foundation and Father Ray Foundation were two charities that recently received GBA plaques.
Radchada Chomjinda, director of the Human Help Network Foundation, said that she is in favour of the rating system, because transparency should be the foundation of all charities. Past work experience proved this to be a vital part of the success she saw with potential donors.
"As we're a small charity and not affiliated with any religious order, I knew from day one that we had to focus on transparency and efficiency to win over donors' hearts. If we cannot get our act together and be upfront about our governance, donors will not be interested in supporting our work. When this happens, the people who suffer most are the deprived children we [otherwise] help.
"Being transparent in our dealings will make us sustainable; it is a proven mechanism for managing charities. We founded this charity five years ago, so we're relatively new, making it all the more important for us to get a GBA plaque with five stars, which lets the public know we have our books in order."
Father Pattarapong Srivorakul, president of the Father Ray Foundation, said: "This is the first time we have such a rating system of international standards for charities in Thailand, whereby our finance, governance and transparency are checked. There are definitely a number of pros, one being that it serves as a reflection of how the charity is managing its daily affairs. You feel the need to be more aware of tightening any loose ends that you otherwise might not pay much attention to.
"The apparent drawback is that there is only one GBA staff member doing the reviews.
"In my opinion, there should be a team, because there is a lot to look into. There is just a certain amount one person can do. To get into the thick of things, it's crucial to go and experience for yourself how the donors' money is being spent. You cannot get a complete picture on how things are managed just from the information we offer on our website and brochure -- or, for that matter, by speaking with us. You have to encounter it yourself.
"Nevertheless, this is a great start to improve the standards of charities in Thailand."
Rev Pattarapong Srivorakul, right, president of the Father Ray Foundation, receives his plaque from Terry Weir.
Radchada Chomjinda, middle, director of the Human Help Network Foundation, and two of her charges stand proudly with her plaque.
Children from impoverished families get to enjoy tasty wholesome meals at the Father Ray Foundation.
One of many self-sufficiency activities for less fortunate kids at Human Help Network Foundation, which has been operating for five years.
