Your donation can make an immediate difference to children like these at a rural school. Some may not be able to study beyond primary level, simply because their parents can't afford the extra costs that many schools charge, or pay for uniform, books or bus fares.

SET has very low overheads and administration costs – no staff wages, no office rental costs, no staff vehicles and no fundraising expenses. In 2008, less than 3% of income was spent on administration.

Unfortunately, there is no organization in Thailand that independently rates a charity's cost-effectiveness. If there was, the SET Foundation would score very highly.

To measure a charity's financial performance, rating organizations in industrialized countries take into account the charity's annual income and its expenditure on its programs, offset by what was spent on general administration, fundraising, staff wages and other non-program activities. As a general guide, rating organizations give an approximate figure of 40% or less spent on administration and non-program activities as being acceptable for a charity to be declared cost-efficient. 

See www.charitywatch.org or www.charitynavigator.org for further information.

Although not verified by an independent rating organization, SET's 2008 audited accounts show that less than 3% of income was spent on administration and non-program costs. Even that was covered by a corporate donation made specifically for the purpose. (The 2009 pre-audit account is even better - less than 2%). How do we keep our running expenses so low? We work entirely voluntarily and have no paid staff, no vehicles, no office rent and no fundraising costs. Most of our donations come initially from readers of books written by SET's director, Peter Robinson, when he was a Buddhist monk. Regular follow-up donations are often made by the same donors after they receive our twice-yearly newsletter, SET News. Even that is published only to keep supporters informed of our activities and is not a fundraising appeal.

We make every effort to keep our operating costs as low as possible because - like you - we want your money to help as many needy students as possible.

SET News: two issues of the newsletter are sent to supporters each year. One in February includes an Income and Expenditure summary for the financial year, which ends 31 December. The audited accounts are available each year in March from the SET Thailand office. A second mid-year newsletter details SET's current activities, forthcoming projects and profiles of supported students. The newsletter is available to non-donors by contacting SET's Thailand office: email This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .