Larger charities usually have a fundraising committee to manage existing relationships with donors and fundraising events. --ST PHOTO: CHEW SENG KIM
HOUSEWIFE Nancy Chua was walking down Orchard Road last month when a teenager clad in jeans and a T-shirt asked her for a donation.
Showing her a card with pictures of children, the young man said he was a third-party fundraiser for a charity, and that the donations would go to disadvantaged children in Singapore.
When she took out $2, the teen scoffed and told her she should give at least $10.
Such unprofessional behaviour and other worse misdemeanours committed by such commercial fundraising companies are the new targets of the Commissioner of Charities (COC).
In its annual report released last week, the Commissioner said it is looking to safeguard donors so they will not fall prey to scams and fraudulent charities, or be taken advantaged of by these fundraisers.
The commissioner also wants to review regulations to enhance control over appeals for funds by commercial fundraisers or businesses who usually take a cut of donations raised on behalf of a charity.
More such commercial outfits have surfaced and the Commissioner has received complaints over how their fundraising activities were conducted and questions of accountability, it said.
It declined to reveal the number of complaints it has received.
Their modus operandi is simple: They usually collaborate with smaller, resource-strapped charities to collect money through door-to-door or on-the-street collection. They either get a cut of the total donations received or are paid a pre-agreed sum - usually 30 per cent of the funds raised.
Larger charities usually have a fundraising committee to manage existing relationships with donors and fundraising events and do not use their services.
