Hello, I'm Wilson, and the hardest question to answer is the one you don't ask! Today's question is whether big charities should have to publish, within a year, how much of each donated dollar actually reaches the people it is meant for, and whether donors should be free to hold back their gifts until they see that number. The second half is the easy half, so let me clear it away first. Donors are already free to withhold a gift for any reason at all, or for none. A donation is a voluntary act, and nobody needs permission to wait. So the real question is the first half, and it turns on something deeper than a deadline. It turns on whether a single percentage, the share that reaches beneficiaries, actually tells a donor what they want to know. That share sounds like the most honest number in the world. It promises to answer the worry every giver carries, which is the fear that their money vanishes into salaries, offices and fundraising dinners. But a number can be honest and still mislead, and a rule that forces everyone to publish …
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Should large charities be required to publish, within a year, the share of each donated dollar that actually reaches the intended beneficiaries, and should donors be allowed to withhold gifts until they can see that figure?
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Charity Overhead Ratios: Why Lean Accounts Can Mislead Donors
Wilson argues charities should publish full accounts within a year, but that a single overhead ratio should not be treated as the measure of a good charity. He concludes donors should ask charities what outcomes they achieved, and that withholding a gift is a legitimate choice.
Made by ChatShow Ai on October 14, 2026 · 5 minutes · Wilson answers it alone.
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