wildlife aid
The Charity Commission has released it’s findings into the wildlife charity Wildlife Aid. The investigation followed complaints in 2010 and covered a range of issues. Wildlife Aid is probably best known as the organisation filmed in the TV series Wildlife SOS which is screened on Animal Planet and Five.
Causes for concern at Wildlife Aid.
The investigation covered the following concerns:
- the charity’s failure to carry out issues raised during a previous inquiry in 2004 including the payments of rent to the founding trustee by the charity for their premises
- the management of Wildlife Aid’s relationship with the TV production company
- the employment of an immediate family member of the wildlife charity
- the 2009 public appeal for donations for land to accommodate the charity’s new premises.
The report was published on Wednesday 11th May 2011 (download pdf).
Rental payments to founding trustee.
In regards to the first point the charity trustees said that it was still their intention to move to their own premises to end the potential conflict of interest with the rent payment to the founding trustee but they had not yet found suitable premises. In the meantime the charity had been granted a scheme by the Charity Commission in 2006 to allow payment of rent to the trustee. The scheme authorised the rental to the founding trustee and the Charity Commission concluded that no further action or investigation is currently needed.
Relationship between charity and TV production company.
The Charity Commission did raise concerns over the relationship between the charity and the production company. The Founding Trustee of Wildlife Aid is a shareholder of the production company and there could be a perception of a conflict of interest. The trustees confirmed that the production company has free access to their wildlife hospital and they do not charge the production company for highlighting the work of the charity.
The trustees were firm in their belief that involvement in the programme was essential to their greater fundraising efforts. They said that the profile of the charity derived entirely from their involvement with the programme and continued involvement was essential to securing their income.
The Charity Commission advised Wildlife Aid that this free access to the porduction company could lead the public to the perception that directors and shareholders (including the Founding Trustee of Wildlife Aid) were privately benefiting from the charity.
Employment of immediate family.
The investigation of the employment of an immediate family member in the charity led the Charity Commission to advise Wildlife Aid that despite it not being a legal requirement it is best practise for charities to run an open and competitive recruitment process. The investigation of the employment of the family member was found not to have been as a result of a fair and open process.
Donation appeal of 2009.
The final area of investigation concerned the appeal for donation of land for new premises in 2009. The Charity Commission considered this to be an operational matter for the Trustees but received clarification over the need for the appeal as Wildlife Aid had over £800,000 in the property fund at the time. The Charity Commission accepted the Trustees explanation of the difficulty in finding suitable and affordable land. The Charity Commission also accepted that the charity is working with local agents in a genuine attempt to find suitable premises.
Final conclusion.
The final conclusion of the Charity Commission was that there was no evidence for maladministration of the charity however the lack of transparency is some areas could lead to the perception that the charity is unable to deal adequately with potential conflicts of interests – and that could have a negative impact on the reputation of the charity.
