Following the natural disaster affecting thousands of people's lives in Turkey and Syria, I saw an emergency appeal on telly for a contribution of £10. 

I suppose I expected this — like many in this country, I sometimes feel bombarded by appeals for £2 per month to one charity; £3 per month to another; etc.

But this appeal caught my eye... it announced that "every penny" of my £10 would go to the people affected by the disaster. 

Why say that? 

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Could the answer be because CEOs of charities in the UK are compensated for their time by way of salary? 

For instance, according the website of a national newspaper, the CEO of Wateraid receives £55,000 (equivalent to the proceeds from the first 2291 £2-per-month subscribers); the CEO of Sightsavers, £65,000 (or 2708 subscribers). 

Would these subscribers be happy knowing their contributions are going into the pockets of CEOs rather than directly assisting the sick or needy?

Moreover, an on-line pre-Covid statement notes that: "On average, the most well-known, largest charities in the UK will spend between 26 and 87 per cent of their annual income on charitable activities".

It stands to reason that collecting and forwarding charitable donations would cost time, so I, for one, take my hat off to those charities committed to giving 100 per cent of proceeds to good causes. 

The absolute definition of "charity" in my book! 

But I can't help but question the ethos of a "charity" which swallows up to three quarters of charitable donations by way of expenses and wages.

A simple promise to give to a charity ALL of my donation has opened my eyes.  

In a world where information is always at our fingertips, I will certainly be checking out some numbers whenever I am asked to give to a charity in the future.

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