S
suicidalpap
Guest
NKF back in the black
The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) is back in the black, due to the economic upturn.
Its Chief Executive Officer Eunice Tay told Channel NewsAsia that the charity accumulated a surplus of S$5.8 million for the fiscal year ended in June.
The NKF was on the brink of dipping into its reserves to fund operations and provide affordable dialysis. Its books were in deficit of S$900,000 for the financial year ended June 2009.
But it has turned the tide.
"The investment income rebounded to S$4.8 million for 11 months. So out of the
S$5.8 million, investment income made up S$4.8 million surplus. And of course, the S$1 million was when we had windfalls, when some people gave us extra money as donations," said Mrs Tay.
This is good news for the 2,700 patients on its dialysis programme.
But the NKF expects operating costs to increase, as the number of patients is growing at what Mrs Tay describes as a "horrendous" rate.
She said: "Currently, we have a net increase of 130 haemodialysis patients per year, which translates to NKF having to build a new dialysis centre per year. So, based on the calculations that we have on our reserves, our current reserves, we could last up to four years....if there were no donations coming in."
[COLOR="_______"]On average, the NKF needs S$50 million to fund operations each year. [/COLOR]
But since 2005, its donations has dwindled, partly because public confidence has been dented by a corporate governance scandal surrounding its former CEO T T Durai.
Donations came up to about S$24.3 million in FY 2006/2007. Last year, NKF's donation kitty saw a 26% drop from FY2007/2008's S$25 million to S$18.5 million.
And, the financial meltdown in 2008 was a double whammy. The economic downturn resulted in one of the worst financial years for NKF.
The charity saw a drastic drop in donations but this is not a uniquely NKF problem. Donations fell across the board for all charities.
The shortfall was cushioned by income from programme fees and investments.
Patients' MediShield payouts as well as government grants also came in handy.
When asked if she will consider raising funds through television charity shows, Mrs Tay firmly rejected the idea.
"It is not likely we will go back to the TV charity show, but we will definitely have to raise funds," she said.
How is the charity going to do that?
[COLOR="_______"]"At the moment we're all brainstorming various ways and means, how we can engage members of the public who are our donors, to come back to us and to agree to once again support the NKF financially," she said. [/COLOR]Besides providing holistic care for patients, the charity is also trying to increase awareness on kidney diseases.
The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) is back in the black, due to the economic upturn.
Its Chief Executive Officer Eunice Tay told Channel NewsAsia that the charity accumulated a surplus of S$5.8 million for the fiscal year ended in June.
The NKF was on the brink of dipping into its reserves to fund operations and provide affordable dialysis. Its books were in deficit of S$900,000 for the financial year ended June 2009.
But it has turned the tide.
"The investment income rebounded to S$4.8 million for 11 months. So out of the
S$5.8 million, investment income made up S$4.8 million surplus. And of course, the S$1 million was when we had windfalls, when some people gave us extra money as donations," said Mrs Tay.
This is good news for the 2,700 patients on its dialysis programme.
But the NKF expects operating costs to increase, as the number of patients is growing at what Mrs Tay describes as a "horrendous" rate.
She said: "Currently, we have a net increase of 130 haemodialysis patients per year, which translates to NKF having to build a new dialysis centre per year. So, based on the calculations that we have on our reserves, our current reserves, we could last up to four years....if there were no donations coming in."
[COLOR="_______"]On average, the NKF needs S$50 million to fund operations each year. [/COLOR]
But since 2005, its donations has dwindled, partly because public confidence has been dented by a corporate governance scandal surrounding its former CEO T T Durai.
Donations came up to about S$24.3 million in FY 2006/2007. Last year, NKF's donation kitty saw a 26% drop from FY2007/2008's S$25 million to S$18.5 million.
And, the financial meltdown in 2008 was a double whammy. The economic downturn resulted in one of the worst financial years for NKF.
The charity saw a drastic drop in donations but this is not a uniquely NKF problem. Donations fell across the board for all charities.
The shortfall was cushioned by income from programme fees and investments.
Patients' MediShield payouts as well as government grants also came in handy.
When asked if she will consider raising funds through television charity shows, Mrs Tay firmly rejected the idea.
"It is not likely we will go back to the TV charity show, but we will definitely have to raise funds," she said.
How is the charity going to do that?
[COLOR="_______"]"At the moment we're all brainstorming various ways and means, how we can engage members of the public who are our donors, to come back to us and to agree to once again support the NKF financially," she said. [/COLOR]Besides providing holistic care for patients, the charity is also trying to increase awareness on kidney diseases.
