With an intended goal of only $30,000, social media personality,
Celeste Barber, raised an incredible $51 million to fight the
devastating bushfires across Australia. Despite the astonishing
achievement and amazing display of solidarity from generous donors,
Celeste soon appreciated that because funds were raised for NSW
Rural Fire Service and Brigades they could only be applied to its
charitable purposes: training of RFS volunteers and supply of
vehicles and equipment.
This was contrary to the representations made by Celeste when
seeking the funds, namely, that they would be distributed to assist
families and wildlife affected by the fires.
In light of these issues, charities should be very mindful that
when articulating their purpose to donors, the purpose should align
with the documented objects of the charity as donations can only be
applied for those purposes.
