Online financial reporting celebrated in annual awards
June 2008
The British Library, WaterAid, the Redress Trust, Best Beginnings and the Chesterfield Philharmonic Choir won top prizes at the 2008 Charities Online Accounts Awards, each receiving a cheque for £5,000 at the ceremony in London’s Chartered Accountants Hall on 30 April 2008.
The event was organised jointly by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). On the same day, over 400 delegates were hearing about how to ‘make news, mobilise support, raise funds and achieve change’ at Action Planning’s ‘Communicating Success’ conference in Westminster’s Central Hall.
For charities unable to finance marketing and PR teams to get their stories picked up by general news media, much can be done with evolving technology to make financial reports as accessible, informative and friendly as possible. These can be turned into very powerful marketing and fundraising tools. Graham Ward, CBE, a senior partner in PriceWaterhouseCoopers and former President of the International Federation of Accountants, chaired the judging panel and commented: ‘Charities depend on donors in the same way the businesses depend on investors and both these communities depend on high quality financial information when making decisions about whether to provide funding.’ John Low, CEO of CAF, added ‘In the 21st century donors want to know their money will be spent well. Openness and transparency are essential to maintain and build public trust.’
Nigel Scott of Minerva Partners, consultants to the Redress Trust, told Caritas: ‘We have worked towards this by understanding SORP 2005 and taking advantage of the opportunities it gives to us to tell the story of the charity in pictures, words and numbers to suit the broadest range of potential readers.’
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