PRESS RELEASE
Dated 29th October 2020
CHARITIES
SOS EDUCATION
Created in 2001, SOS Education describes itself as
“a militant association […]
endeavouring fully independently to ensure that schools teach each child the
basic skills and t
o strive for excellence”
. It states that it is
“totally transparent
concerning
its
funding”
and
“funded
exclusively
by the generosity of its members”
.
Following
its
inspection
and
within
the
limits
of
the
investigations
and of the information available, the Cour des comptes states that the
expenditure of the association for the fiscal years 2013 to 2018 was not compliant
with the goals pursued by appeals to public generosity.
Over the 2013-2018 period, donations received by SOS Education amounted on
average to 1.38
M€ per year, representing 88
%, i.e. the main part of its funding. After
having counted 60,000 donors and received 3
M€ of donations in 2008, the association
experienced, between 2013 and 2018, a sharp reduction in the number of donors and
the amount of its collections, which resulted in losses from 2014 onwards. However, it
keeps reserves of over 3
M€ as of 31st December 2018.
During its inspection, the Cour des comptes found that:
the statutes of the association organise governance restricted to a small number of
“participating members” (between three and seven over the period). Donors and
supporters (between 40,000 and 80,000 according to the association), otherwise
known as ”active members”, are not allowed to attend annual general meetings,
nor
to sit on the Board. Therefore, they are unable to exert any control over the
management of the association;
the main activity of SOS Education consists in widely distributing direct mailings both
by post (almost one million letters distributed on average every year between 2013
and 2018) and electronically, systematically including an appeal for donations
mentioning the related tax incentive. Apart from the collection of donations, the
association gives few operational follow-ups to its actions: over half of the direct
mailings distributed over the inspected period proposed a “national
referendum” on
schools for recipients, yet none has been carried out, in any shape or form. 28
“petitions” have also been proposed, of which only a quarter have been comp
leted. It
therefore appears that, under the guise of raising awareness about school issues,
the main, if not only, aim of the direct mailing operations, is to collect donations;
the income and expenditure account for association funding does not reflect the
reality of its donation usage. Up to 85 % of the expenditure incurred for mailings are
shown in the expenditure account as falling under the category of social missions,
whereas this should, in reality, be considered as collection costs, representing, in
which case, over half of the donations received;
most of the operations relating to the distribution of direct mailings and to the
collection of donations were delegated to immutable service providers, without prior
competitive tender, and several of which are linked to SOS Education, its founding
members or its senior executives;
apart from the distribution of direct mailings, actions conducted by SOS Education
(meetings with political decision-makers, organisation of symposiums and
conferences, training workshops for teachers, book publications, allocation of
bursaries incidentally in questionable conditions) appear to be limited;
lastly, during the inspected period, some association funding was used for purposes
departing from its social missions.
These observations lead the Cour des comptes to declare, under the provisions of
Article L. 143-2 of the Financial Courts code, the expenditure incurred by the
association SOS Education during the fiscal years 2013 to 2018 non-compliant with the
goals pursued by public appeals to generosity.
When the Cour des comptes declares the expenditure incurred non-compliant with the
goals pursued by public appeals to generosity, it issues a clear statement of this point,
sent to the budget minister and the chairpersons of the finance committees of the
National Assembly and the Senate with its report. The budget minister may, by ruling,
decide to deprive the organisation specified in the statement of tax incentives for any
donations, inheritances and payments made.
Read the report
PRESS CONTACTS:
Ted Marx
Director of communication
T
+33 (0)1 42 98 55 62
ted.marx@ccomptes.fr
Etienne Chantoin
Press Relations
T
+33 (0)1 42 98 59 45
etienne.chantoin@ccomptes.fr
@Courdescomptes
ccomptes
Cour des Comptes