Warning for invoicing charities 'more than they could bear'

Wednesday, 17 January 2018

Larry Robbins says he received an invoice when he was treasurer of the International Sailors Society New Zealand but says it struck him as an 'obvious mistake'.

A charitable trust has been given a warning for invoicing charities after a free trial some didn't know they signed up for.

The Commerce Commission found the New Zealand Trustees Association Charitable Trust likely breached the Fair Trading Act in billing charities $158.70 for an annual membership in March 2016, giving no indication they were not obligated to pay.

Robbins, who works as a consultant for a number of small non-profits says 'many many charitites would find $160 to be more than they could bear'.

In the letter from the commission, Kirsten Mannix, Wellington consumer manager, wrote the trust first sent unsolicited emails to registered charities, donating membership for six months in October 2015. At the end of the six-month period, it invoiced the charities an annual membership fee, she said.

A spokeswoman said the trust refused to provide a full list of the affected charities.

Errol Anderson, New Zealand Trustees Association Charitable Trust trustee would not respond to requests for comment.

* Charity watchdog finds 'insufficient evidence' to investigate Destiny Church**

Founder of NonforProfit.org.nz and independent charity consultant, Larry Robbins was the treasurer for six charities in October 2015. Robbins said one of the six, The International Sailors Society New Zealand, received an invoice for an annual membership.

'Essentially I think it was an attempt to boost membership of the NZTA but it wasn't very well thought out,' he said.

Robbins said, with his experience in the non-profit sector, the invoice struck him as an 'obvious mistake' and a 'well intentioned but poorly executed attempt' at attracting members.

'I don't think there was any malfeasance involved.'

Robbins said he had been a member association behind the trust for a few years but felt 'there was not very much value for non-profits'.

'Many, many charities would find $160 to be more than they could bear for the services offered.'

A spokesperson from the trust said seven charities complained to the commission.

The invoices were sent out with no explanation due to a 'sequence of SMTP problems outside of our control' on March 31, 2016.

The trust sent a letter to those affected on that date explaining email filters declined some of the previous emails of membership donation due to embedded images and links, whereas the invoice was a basic page attachment.

This meant that many charities had not received the donation of membership or previous opt-out emails and the first contact was the invoice for membership subscription.

Some of the emails these charities did not receive from October 2015 to April 2016 contained 'trust sector information, positions vacant, bills before Parliament that could affect the trust sector and other general membership services, mostly in the form of the Estate & Trust Bulletin and Members Briefs' and all gave charities the option to unsubscribe, the letter said.

The letter also retracted the invoices issued to 'charities affected and unaware of previous offers and correspondence', apologised to charities that were left in the dark, and offered a year of free membership to those affected.

The Trustees Association is a Registered Charitable Trust, founded in April 1996, and has about 400 members.

On the organisation's website it says it was founded from a 'need for peer appraisal by trustees for trustees, and an increase in resources for the public who are directly or indirectly affected by the trusteeship'.