Reasonable Cause Inc. are “value investors” in the philanthropic space. We evaluate each of our potential partners by applying a number of selection criteria before we decide to invest donor funds in any joint project. We do this in order to ensure that our donors’ money achieves outstanding value for the dollars spent. There are an almost countless number of charities, however it is only a relative few that can properly be regarded as achieving both operational and financial excellence. We invest funds in our joint projects together with the chosen few.
Our selection criteria are as follows:
Objects
- The objects of each of our partner organisations must be at least broadly similar to that of Reasonable Cause Inc. – i.e. the advancement of education for disadvantaged young Cambodians.
Finances
- At least three consecutive financial years revenue exceeding expenses.
- At least three consecutive financial years of unqualified audited financial accounts.
- Sufficient long term financial reserves.
- We also assess likely future revenues and require a stable and sustainable future revenue model for at least the next three financial years.
Overheads
- A low ratio of overheads to dollars spent in direct service delivery.
Fundraising Costs
- A low ratio of fundraising costs to funds raised.
Key Person
- The key person varies from charity to charity. Often (but not always) it is the founder / manager. The key person must have a demonstrated track record of success as a self-employed individual, entrepreneur (large or small scale) or in senior corporate management / leadership over a significant time span prior to embarking upon their philanthropic endeavours.
Governance
- We require stable governance including limited turnover in Board membership for a minimum of the last 3 consecutive financial years. High turnover of personnel in governance is often a sign of internal instability in the governance process.
- We require that the Chairperson has a significant history of involvement (either directly or indirectly) in the partner organisation and is familiar with its operations.
- The Chairperson must have a demonstrated track record of success as either a self-employed person, entrepreneur (large or small scale) or in senior corporate management / leadership over a significant time span.
- We require that the Treasurer have formal accounting qualifications, or alternatively has demonstrated financial literacy as a result of a track record of successful entrepreneurship, senior corporate management / leadership, or significant professional experience in the field of banking and finance or closely related professions.
Child Protection Policies
- We review and consider the appropriateness of our partner organisation’s child protection policy prior to committing any funds. We require our partner organisation to advise of any changes to that policy. Post COVID-19 pandemic, we intend to monitor the our partner organisation by in-person visits by our Chairperson at least twice annually to ensure compliance in day to day operations. This will be done at no cost to Reasonable Cause Inc.
Ongoing Monitoring and Accountability
- We commit to each of our joint project partner organisations and related joint projects for no longer than a three (3) year funding cycle. We regularly monitor the performance of our partner organisations to ensure that they continue to meet our criteria. All of our joint project partner organisations are eligible to continue to participate in joint project delivery subject to continuing to meet our criteria.