Transparency and monitoring. Help – Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe.

Handling donations

Initiative Transparent Civil Society

Help is a signatory to the Initiative Transparent Civil Society declaration of commitment.
On the initiative of Transparency Deutschland e. V. a large number of players from civil society and academia have defined ten basic points, which are intended to make every organisation within civil society accessible to the general public. Help is participating in this initiative and has signed the declaration of commitment.

How high are administrative costs at Help?

Every year Help receives the DZI donations seal of approval from the German Central Institute for Social Issues (DZI). Help comes under the lowest heading for the costs of administration, donations advertising and public relations work at under 10%. The criteria for awarding the seal of approval can be summarised as follows:

true, clear and factual advertising,
verifiable and cost-effective use of funds,
clear, reproducible accounting,
verification of the annual accounts and submission to the DZI,
internal monitoring of the management committees by an independent supervisory body.

Our expenditure on administration, public relations work and advertising is about 5 percent every year.

Help instructs a tax advisor for the annual accounts and has been audited by a well-known external auditing company for the last 28 years.

How is the management monitored at Help?

Help is a registered association. The honorary Executive Board, including current and former members of the lower house of the German parliament (Bundestag), monitor the management. Meetings are held three to four times per annum for this. The meeting of members discharges the Executive Board and meets once every year. In addition, Help applies the dual control principle when awarding contracts for goods and services. Our projects are assessed by sponsors and/or external auditors.

You can find our articles of association and the code of conduct here.

How much are staff or service-providers remunerated at Help?

We take our charitable status, qualifications and the level of responsibility of the relevant person into account when setting staff remuneration. Pay is within the normal range for the sector. Staff remuneration in the office is based on the TVÖD (German federal public service pay scale).
Remuneration, which is performance-related in the field of funds procurement, is paid only under certain conditions and complies with the requirements of the DZI.

Ombudsperson

Angelika Graf, MdB/SPD a.D.
c/o Help - Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe
Reuterstr. 159
53113 Bonn
Contact: ombudsperson(at)help-ev.de