2008 Charities’ Online Accounts Award Winners Announced

30 April 2008

British Library, WaterAid, The Redress Trust, Best Beginnings and the Chesterfield Philharmonic Choir have taken on strong competition from the UK’s top charities and won top prizes in the 2008 Charities Online Accounts Awards.

The awards – organised by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) – promote transparency in the third sector by rewarding the charities that publish the most friendly and accessible online financial reports. Winners of the five categories were each presented with a cheque for £5,000 at the ceremony in London’s Chartered Accountants Hall on 30 April 2008.

Chief Executive of the Charities Aid Foundation John Low said: “In the 21st century donors want to know their money will be spent well. Openness and transparency are essential to maintain and build public trust. The winners of these awards have confidently encouraged public scrutiny by presenting their accounts in a friendly and accessible way.”

Nominees were judged by an expert panel chaired by Graham Ward CBE, a senior partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers and former President of the International Federation of Accountants. The prizes were presented by Graham Ward and David Furst, the ICAEW Deputy President.

Graham Ward CBE said: “High quality financial reporting is as much of an imperative for the charitable sector as it is for the commercial world. Charities depend on donors in the same way that businesses depend on investors and both these communities depend on high quality financial information when making decisions about whether to provide funding. The judges were impressed by the approach taken by so many of the entrants and their desire to make the most of the internet in how they achieve this.”

List of Winners:

Top 100 Fundraising Charities

1st – British Library

(http://www.bl.uk/)

2nd – Samaritans

(http://www.samaritans.org/)

3rd – Multiple Sclerosis Society

(http://www.mssociety.org.uk/)

Charities with an income above 2m

1st – WaterAid

(http://www.wateraid.org/uk/)

2nd – Plan UK