The world is full of lots of important causes in need. Whether a global challenge, such as curing the thousands and thousands of different types of cancers, or introduce mechanisms for plastic and toxin extraction from the marine ecosystem, or local causes such as improved hospice facilities to give those beyond medical intervention to give them the care they need and the environment to pass away with dignity, there appears to be no end to the number of ways that we can provide help, and no end to the number of places hoping to receive.

With over 200,000 registered charities in the UK, let alone the many non-profit organisations, and countless individual fund-raising drives, this means the number of voices calling for your hard earned money has escalated from a loud noise, to beyond a deafening roar.

With their tactics often turning to more and more graphic imagery, using extremes of guilt and emotional pressure, we are bombarded with these cause, and often give in to these pressures to contribute what little we can.

But we can each only stretch so thin, and give so much.

When being 'pounced upon' to donate, we often just get to hear the 'cover story' and pitch from the collector about how bad the problem is, but just how many of us look at how well the money is used to achieve the promise for a solution.

 

With us always meeting many charities and other causes, we get to prod deeper. Understanding the charity model, the legal limitations (such as the capping of salaries), and how some of these rules are 'worked around'. We look at the charity structure, business model (as all charities have to be like a business and balance their books), and the benefits they bring.

We don't focus on criticising what the money is spent on, for example focusing on the costs of hosting a gala dinner to help build supporters which may have a high cost but might lead to great publicity and far more money to the cause. Instead we at Aurora focus on promises, and compare the money they receive with the promise of the good they will do with it.

As an example, using a fictitious example charity "Save the Penguin", we want charities to explain te benefits that are generated for every £10 received, and just how this equates to the number of penguins rescued, rehabilitated and released. If we know, as donors, that donating £10 will save 3 penguins, it gives us, the donor, a greater connection with the good we do, rather than putting it into what otherwise may seem like an unknown unrewarding black hole.

Charities want our money. Isn't it only fair that they should make these accountability promises, and then feed back on just how well they did against them? Won't this show the good and the bad charities by the deeds they do, as opposed to the words they say?

 

Spotting a good and a bad charity isn't easy.

Without saying no names, and attempting to anonymise this story, I was walking around my city, and came across a pop-up business claiming to give all profits to charity. Speaking to oe of the many stall-holders, I was told they were just a volunteer, and didn't really know much about the cause, but that it was something to do with babies. I spoke to someone else, and they told me it was something to do with alcohol. And someone else told me it was something to do with Argentina. So many volunteers, yet none seemed to know the details of the charity that was the recipient of their efforts. Alarm bells rang.

I soon began to enquire about just what the real story was. After going through several people who were not in the know, I came across someone who helped fill in the blanks, extracting pieces of information piece by piece. The charity was ran by one person. This person focused on how education was poor in rural parts of Argentina, and teenage pregnancies were common. With alcohol consumption, leading to birth defects, this person took it as their mission to routinely fly to Argentina, using charitable income, to teach the local women the importance of alcohol related issues, by - wait for it - drinking good quality wine, without impurities, before they returned to the UK with a 'job well done'.

For those puzzled by the above, we were shocked too. Only after this investigation did I discover that it seemed that the person went on a 'regular jolly' to drink expensive wines in a beautiful wilderness landscape at the expense of the donor. To me, and I'm willing to stand corrected, this doesn't sound like a charitable mission, but more like a sponsored holiday.

 

Aurora was not set up, to uncover each of the charities hidden among the 200,000 in the UK alone who are using their charitable status as a rouse for their own self-interest. It was not set up to make charities account for, or justify their spending. It was not set up to police the promises that charities make.

It was set up to make a difference, and to help the truly worthwhile charities stand out from the crowd.

We believe that having a tangible promise can help make a cause more 'donation-worthy'.

Those that promise to 'save 3 penguins', will be more likely to receive recognition and support, than those that make no promises at all.

With more recognition, come more donations

With more donations, comes more efficiency

With more effeciency, come more results

Results, mean more penguins per pound, meaning more 'value for money' to the donor. As simple as that.

 

As more and more charities make their promises, people can get to see how their contributions can make a real difference.

Aurora has been designed around this whole donation experience, making it easy for donors and charities alike, and not taking a single penny from the charity. Not one. Zip!

Aurora's free directory allows charities to list themselves as a charity (e.g. Save the Penguin), and list their campaigns (e.g. Save Emperor Penguins, Save Rockhopper Penguins, Save Adelaide Penguins etc.), and list their promises (e.g. £10 will feed 1 rockhopper penguin for a week), in a way that makes sense to the reader, so that a donor can closely relate to the difference that their generosity has made.

This helps people understand which charities are the saints, and which are perhaps not.

How we plan to help:

People can buy deals from local businesses on our Aurora platform, and be rewarded with a donation which they can manage in their 'My Account' section which they can allocate, and donate when they wish, to the campaigns that are truly important to them. This puts the choice of where to donate squarely back with the donor, without any pressure whatsoever.

Through our platform, people can even choose to donate directly to a Charity (with a donate button on their page, but passed through directly to the charity without a single penny to Aurora).

A free platform for charities that allows them access to 'free money' just by being open, honest, and transparent? What reason would a charity have for not listing themselves?

But how can we tell the saints from the scammers.

Charities have to register with the governing bodies or the Charities Commission (in England and Wales), and OSCR (in Scotland), who have the responsibility to validate the charities and ensure they meet their regulatory obligations. Over 200,000 have successfully made it through, and as we recognise, not all of them are saints.


For a charity to list themselves on Aurora has been made very easy. As more and more charities come onboard, the screening process will no doubt, be made even smoother. We screen, in line with these bodies to ensure that all charities added to our platform have successfully met their criteria, and are legitemate, but our platform adds a new layer of screening. You!

Charities that make promises that people don't in are far less likely to get any support. Those making false promises will soon 'come out in the wash', as they are unearthed, or they admit that they haven't managed to reach their promises.

There's 200,000 charities (and growing) in the UK alone, but there are far more of us. Together, we can spot those 'sinner' charities that are only established for their own self-interest, or those that make wild claims. While those willing to do what they say, what we want, and deliver their promises will soon be seen as the saints, and those that look to take advantage will soon be labelled otherwise, accordingly.

Together, we can change the way charities make a difference. Together we can spot the saints from the sinners. Together, we can change the world !

 

Request: Please share/retweet this article to your pages, posts, groups, and all contacts you can, to help charities to know about us, and our mission, and to benefit from using our free platform. Aurora makes money by the sale of our life saving ICE products, through a small fee from the sale of any deals, and from any affiliate revenue from advertising links for retailers that lead to a purchase. We don't try to hide this. We need to survive too!

This allows us to fund our Charity and Business directory for free, making it valuable for us all. Charities can then focus on what they can do best, and if we can help make a difference, this makes it all worthwhile. If you are a charity, please contact us for the many ways we can help you to eliminate your biggest challenges.

 

Registration: If you are a charity, non-profit (NGO), club, or business, fill our the form below to start the simple, yet painless process of adding yourself to our free directory, and help us to help you make the difference.

 

 

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