Charity defends 'paid' volunteers
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E-mail China Daily, September 6, 2012
More than half of the 30 people initially recruited nationwide quit due to a lack of financial support.
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Fanglu, founder of Shilehui [R] |
This was largely due to the way Shilehui operates. It works like an e-commerce charity, with registered donors playing the part of "buyer" and having accounts they can top up, while the fundraisers are "sellers" who promote their campaigns to attract attention.
However, it means volunteers have to hand over their own money to intended beneficiaries before a campaign begins, and then raising the funds to recoup their loss.
"So, in April, we decided to explore recruiting fundraisers by offering a financial reward for every campaign completed," Fang said.
Controversy
In July, netizens began raising concerns about the charity. Some accused it of sending "spam" e-mails, while others claimed it was being used as a tool to make profit.
According to a recent Oriental Morning Post report, which cited information from Shilehui's website and calculations from a Web user, a volunteer in Henan province earned 2,700 yuan ($425) commission from raising a total of 18,000 yuan in a day from online donors to help nine elderly people.
Fang confirmed that the maximum amount a volunteer can receive is 15 percent, but he said the example used by the paper was "an extreme case".
"By the end of August, our 60 (paid volunteers) have raised about 2 million yuan and received less than 200,000 yuan as commission," he said.
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