240 CultureShock! China
Choosing Your Charity
The American Chamber of Commerce has created a vetting
procedure for NGOs based upon guidelines used by the
Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) in the United
States. Their website (http://www.amcham-shanghai.org)
gives an evaluation of the charities that have passed through
their vetting procedure.
An additional resource is China Development Brief (http://
http://www.chinadevelopmentbrief.com) which provides a guide
of over 300 NGOs in China. It is the best single source of
information on local agencies, and lists nearly as many global
NGOs with China operations. It is also a platform to advertise
full-time and part-time paid NGO postings in China.
Two additional resources are GuideStar (http://www.
guidestar.com), which lists over 500 charities with some focus
on China, and Charity Navigator (http://www.charitynavigator.
com), which provides evaluation of a few China charities.
If conducting your own due diligence on charities, some
points to consider include:
What percentage of funds raised by the organisation are
used to support core functions of the programme?
How much accountability is there? What are the reporting
processes? Can donors designate what funds are
used for?
Are the organisation’s finances independently audited?
Are the audit records available for review?
Is the organisation officially recognised in China? If
not, is it recognised in another country? What is the
legal umbrella the organisation operates under? Can
it provide proof?