| You Spend | £1.00 | ||
| Less 20% VAT* | £0.17 | ||
| Sub total | £0.83 | ||
| Less cost of trading | £0.66 | ||
| Less OXFAM admin costs | £0.05 | ||
| Sub total | £0.12 | ||
| Less 5% political campaigning | £0.01 | ||
| NET TO AID | £0.11 | ||
| *VAT charged on gifts, cards, commissioned goods but not on donated items | |||
| Source: 2017 accounts submitted to Charity Commission |
First point is that VAT is chargeable on all those commissioned gift items - but not on donated goods. So if you're buying an old frock rather than a new greetings card, the net will be bigger. Oxfam shops are really just PR - a subtle way of pretending that the charity gets most of its money from public gifts and donations rather than from central government aid. Once you take off the costs of running the shops and the website, and the costs of HQ staff and executives, you're left with just 12p of that £1.00. And then OXFAM skims off a further 5% for its domestic lobbying and anti-poverty campaigning - leaving just 11p to go on aid and development.
For anyone paying £3 a month by direct debit, your yield is a bit better. But be aware that OXFAM has 11 executives earning over £100k pa. Assuming they're all at the midpoint of the first £100k+ band, it takes 37,000 x £3 direct debits just to meet their salary bill each month. News that 1,000 folk have cancelled their DDs as a result of the sex scandal will hardly dent them - unless another 36,000 join them.
Looking at the figures really does bring the waste into sharp contrast. The lesson is, if you want your money to reach the people in need, follow the suggestions in the comments, and please, please, look at the accounts before you spend.
