The charitable community has been discussing the question of whether it is acceptable for representatives of charitable organizations to raise money and use personal bank accounts.
Some of our colleagues stick to the position that the law and ethics should become secondary when it comes to helping an adult or child in a critical condition, and transferring funds to the employee’s bank account is the only possible way for a donor to donate money. And even very experienced colleagues doubt that this type of fundraising is a fraud. It might not be a fraud, but it is indeed non-transparent fundraising, therefore, we cannot support such way of raising money.
Diema’s Dream Fund adheres to the position that the law is essential and must be abided by.
It is good to trust people, and not everyone who uses personal bank accounts for fundraising is a cheater. The level of trust is strongly developed abroad compared to our country. In our country many people who decided to donate are disorganized, they follow their emotions, they don’t check funds or people who collect money. And later they often say that they were deceived. This issue is very controversial; therefore, our fund opts for legal procedures and work under the laws of the Russian Federation.
It is worth mentioning that funds undergo a mandatory audit procedure in our country. We believe that it would be right for people who collect on their cards to also undergo a mandatory audit. Indeed, no one knows if the case is a fraud or not. Some colleagues often rely on their experience, intuition, feelings, but in most cases, this is not a transparent situation. To make it transparent, we can create authority or a register to help make the process transparent. In our opinion, the solution lies in this direction.
Let’s say, if a person needs to raise money, he should collect all necessary documents and sign the document in which he agrees to provide a fundraising report. This is the way to make this process transparent. He also should file a report within a year after transferring the money to the fund, as the money on this account can circulate within a year. Then the situation will be under control. Transparency may be achieved by establishing a regulatory authority, which will check these individuals in the same way as organizations (legal entities) are checked.
We believe that allowing such actions to be uncontrolled means allowing non-transparent fundraising. It means being lenient.
We absolutely opt for transparency of individuals and legal fundraising.