[Foundation-l] Charity Navigator rates WMF

[Andrew Gray]

2009/10/8 Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton at gmail.com>:
> 2009/10/8 George Herbert <george.herbert at gmail.com>:
>> The WMF is not entirely unique in that regard; many other charities
>> are largely volunteer (cf Red Cross).
>
> According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Cross#Activities:
>
> "Altogether, there are about 97 million people worldwide who serve
> with the ICRC, the International Federation, and the National
> Societies. And there are about 12,000 total full time staff members."
>
> That is a ratio of about 8,000 volunteers per staff member.

I think before we get too tied up in using the Red Cross as an
example, we should note that it doesn't have ninety-two million
volunteers; it has less than a quarter of that number. Most of them
are not volunteers as we would meaningfully use the term, but are
instead described variously as "members" or "supporters" - in other
words, people who give money.

"The Movement currently has some 97 million members and volunteers
throughout the world, including some 20 million active volunteers"

http://www.ifrc.org/voluntee/index.asp?navid=12

As to the 11,000 staff... well, the American Red Cross alone states
that it has "more than half a million volunteers and 35,000
employees".

I think we're on a bit of a hiding to nothing trying to make a
meaningful comparison here, because we don't know how vaguely
meaningful the source figures are, beyond "at least partly wrong".

As to your second question, a tenth of that figure - about 30,000 -
seems right as a number for "active volunteers"; it's about the order
of magnitude of people active enough to vote for the Board, for
example.

-- 
- Andrew Gray
  andrew.gray at dunelm.org.uk