In Reply to: Some questions posted by Baliku on Friday, 4. March 2005 at 19:07 Bali Time:
My wife and I along with a few other people have set up what is now Southern Cross Bali Association Inc. We are a registered organisation, with the Department of Consumer affairs here in West Australia. To gain registration is not as easy as it sounds. First you need a name, committee, constitution, ABN, bank account, pass a police clearence check, obtain a tax file number just like setting up a business. (which it is) After all this has been done, the next part is the hardest, gaining you charity collectors licence. This took our organisation a lot of man hours, references had to be obtained, and a detailed discription of what had been achieved, what we hope to achieve, in other words a business plan. This plan is then put before a committee, who meet once a month to rule who is pemitted a licence and who is not. They will ask you the difference between what you do and others in the same field do, you have to explain, in detail what that diffence is. Can you join or amalgamate with a simular organisation? Its a lot of hard somtimes frustrating work, and if you like to spend a lot of time, standing in lines at Goverment departments, then this is for you.
The question was raised about reciepts and tax deductability. Yes we have to issue a reciept for any monies we are given, including any chook raffles held at the local pub. As for tax deductability, you can only recieve a deduction if the charity has what they call a "in Australia" content to it. (all the information regarding this complex subject can be obtained from the tax dept)
Collecting and raising money is extreemly hard to do. You know your honest, and that every penny you raise goes to whoever needs it at the time. (You even pay for most of the administration costs out of your own pocket,and your own airfares.) But when you have organisations, big and small, misuseing monies raised for one project and then being used for another, people tend to eye you with suspicion. As for the laws in Bali? Who gets what after the charity winds up? I would think that the assets would be devided among the jackals, like a carcass. In Australia its different. If a charity winds up, all monies have to be donated to another organisation, with a charity licence, usualy one with the same objectives.
While Im here I'd like to thank those people from the BTF who have helped us in the past, and an even bigger thank you to those who continually help. They know who they are and without them our job would be so much harder.
Take Care