Other Global Charities

Delivering aid (with full accountability), always costs money.
There are a small number of high-impact charities that are active in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OpT), as well as in Syria, Yemen, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Kashmir, Somalia and elsewhere.

A leading organisation like UNRWA which manages large schools, clinics, and off-site camps is understandably going to have sizeable expenses given their enlarged footprint, impact, headcount, and infrastructure – while a small charity with for e.g., 2-3 volunteers may spend much smaller amounts on expenses, but in terms of scale, will also have a much smaller reach compared to UNRWA, Oxfam and others.

A large, established charity will also likely have the experience and local connectivity to assess what is needed today, tomorrow and in the medium to long term while a small charity might be able to operate with minimal complexity and move much faster.

Put simply, there is no one-size-fits-all approach.

Given their history, track record, reach, impact, commitment and achievements to-date, running a charity is about delivering aid (with full accountability) which understandably – always costs money.

Each of these leading 70+ charities/NGOs play a very important role in their own respective way.


CHARITY/NGO% SPENT ON EXPENSES
1Ummah Welfare Trust100% Donation Policy
2One Nation100% Donation Policy
3Islamic Aid100% Donation Policy
4Muslim Global Relief100% Donation Policy
5One Ummah100% Donation Policy
6Abdullah Aid100% Donation Policy
7SKT Welfare100% Donation Policy
8Global Helping Hands100% Donation Policy.
9Children of Adam100% Donation Policy.
10Muslims in Need100% Donation Policy.
11United Palestinian Appeal98% Donation Policy
12Muslim Hands0-10%
13Action for Humanity3-10%
14Muslim Charity0-12%
15Islamic Relief4-13%
16Anera6%
17Première Urgence Internationale 6%
18International Red Cross & Red Crescent Movement6.5%
19Disasters Emergency Committee7.3%
20Children of Peace9%
21Relief International UK9%
22MAA (Australia)6-9%
23iF Charity10%
24ActionAid10%
25CARE10%
26Medical Aid for Palestinians13%
27Catholic Agency for Overseas Development13%
28Christian Aid13%
29Humanity Inclusion14%
30Save the Children14%
31Physicians for Human Rights15% (On Average)
32SOS Children’s Villages16%
33Plan International UK17%
34Penny Appeal17.84%
35Middle East Children’s Alliance18%
36MÉDECINS SANS FRONTIÈRES19%
37Human Concern20%
38Rebuilding Alliance20%
39World  Vision UK21%
40Oxfam International23%
41UNRWA
42Palestine Children’s Relief Fund
43Muslim Aid
44Human Appeal
45Global Relief Trust
46Defense for Children International (Palestine)
47Action Against Hunger
48War Child
49Norwegian Refugee Council
50Palestine International Medical Aid (PIMA)
51Gift of the Givers Foundation
52MyCare Malaysia
53Aman Palestine
54Arab Campaign for Education for All
55Palestine Red Crescent Society
56Baitulmaal USA
57American Friends Service Committee
58Al-Fakhoora
59Reach Education Fund
60Al-Amal Institute for Orphans
61Challenge to Change
62UNICEF
63World Food Programme (WFP)
64World Health Organisation (WHO)
65UNHCR
66UNDP
67UN-OCHA
68UN Women
69UN-Habitat
70UNFPA
71Mercy Corps
72OHCHR
Note: The expenses vary from country-to-country for charities with operations across the world

Source: Ayaan Institute: Aiding the Ummah : Analysing the Muslim Humanitarian Charity Sector in the UK), click here.


OTHER OPTIONS:

The costs of sending donations into Gaza are exploitatively high.

For example, if one were to send HK$2,000 into Gaza via PayPal, Western Union or MoneyGram, they will stealthily quote an FX rate that is approximately 4% higher than the official FX rate (HK-USD-Shekels). Next, they will charge approximately HK$150+ for the transfer, costing in total no less than 8%-12%, of the amount one is trying to send.

Put simply, for every US$100 sent into Gaza, Western Union, PayPal and others will unashamedly pocket up to $12+ for itself. They will likely claim the regulatory compliance cost is high and while this is partly true, 12% is astronomically high by any standard.


LaunchGood, JustGiving, DonorBox, GoFundMe & MuslimGiving

There are also several crowdfunding platforms today.

PLATFORMCHARGES
LaunchGood2.9% credit card processing fee + 0.30 cents
JustGivingbetween 1.9%-2.9%
GoFundMe2.9% credit card processing fee + 0.30 cents
Donorbox4.4%
MuslimGivingVoluntary fees decided by users
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