HPPJSPA Charity Selection Process

HPPJSPA Charity Selection Process

PA CHARITIES FOR 2007-8

The selection of a PA charity is one of the key points in the PA year. The choice of a charity is one of the things that unites the parents behind our work raising funds throughout the year. Before starting this process, we would like to take the chance to set out some information for new parents joining the foundation this year, as well as to clarify some points about how this year’s committee will be running the process.

A WORD ABOUT THE PA AND CHARITIES

More than one person has questioned the PA's focus on children and supporting local and international projects concerned with their health, education, and general well-being (fairly broadly construed). The view that has been taken in past years is that this is appropriate because

a) we are a school, and our children are what bring us together. Helping other, less fortunate children is a natural extension of that common link; and

b) there are plenty of worthy causes within that remit, such that we need look no further to find worthwhile recipients.

Finally, and importantly

c) the PA exists to bring parents together. Helping children and their families and communities is relatively non-controversial and, hopefully, something we can all get behind. There are worthy causes working in areas such as environmentalism, health, and human rights, but their activities and advocacy can stray into contentious areas, and may be best left to parents to support on an individual basis.

The PA has also tended to favour charities that are small and have low overheads. Large charities are necessary and do important work, particularly where the scale and professional expertise they bring is important (for example in mobilising large-scale disaster relief). However to maintain large operations they require steady streams of income, and fundraising overheads are relatively high.

Because we are essentially a fundraising operation, it is perhaps worth considering that we aim to send a least a portion of our funds to charities that are working on a smaller scale. We gain more leverage for our cash and don’t watch a large part of what we have collected go to cover a duplication of fund-raising effort.

In past years we have also spread our funds a little, usually funding a mix of local and international charitable organisations. In past years, our charitable donations have been largely as follows:

CHOOSING A CHARITY

We are committed to a fair, open process where reps are able to weigh up the nominated charities, consult with their classes and reach a decision that we can all support. To that end, all members of the committee have agreed that we will not be advocating on behalf of any charity, and will be maintaining a completely neutral stance.

At the meeting on 6^th November, we will be asking Class Reps to vote on two issues: whether we should nominate one or two main charities, and for your first and second preference for that choice. Based on the first vote, we will count the votes for the first (and if appropriate, a second) choice charity (or charities). In the absence of a clear majority behind one (or two) we will also consider whether there is a clear favourite among the second preference votes.  We urge all parents to let their Class Reps know their preferences for the charities before the meeting.

Click here to go to the nominations for the charities of 2007-2008.