Is Bono on the take

Degsy

Fratton Fred wrote: »

works hard for charity, so he must be a ****:rolleyes:

He works harder to avoid paying tax..tax that could help charities in his own country but thn why should he give a shiit about the people who put him where he is now?
He's happier shaking hands with despots and arms-dealers.

Fratton Fred

Degsy wrote: »

He works harder to avoid paying tax..tax that could help charities in his own country but thn why should he give a shiit about the people who put him where he is now?
He's happier shaking hands with despots and arms-dealers.

Do you really think Bono sits at home all day worrying about how the band (not him, the band) can reduce their tax bill?

U2 is a multi million euro business, I'm retty sure they have the odd accountant or two that does all that for them. Just like Microsoft do, which is why they use Ireland in the same way U2 use Holland.

Trashbat

Degsy wrote: »

Not true..i used to work for a certain Centre in Dun Laoighre that provided "care for victims of alcohol abuse".
We used to sell a "line" for a pound each..
My cut was 40%
My supervisors cut was 20%
His supervisors cut was 20%
10% went towards printing the cards etc

And no more than 10% went to the "charity" itself who also have fully-paid staff working on the premises..very expensive premises at that.

Added to this that the people who seek "refuge" in teh centre have top pay for thier time there and you've got a very lucrative money-spinner indeed..all by tapping public sympathy.

SO their total fundraising comes from two main sources, direct marketing and charged services, one of which has a different return rate than the other. this is not taking into account tertiary methods like legacies and sponsor events/volunteering (which have good returns, but are less reliable).

Basically the highest potential yield (selling cards being esentially uncapped in terms of potential) has the highest outgoings, but other methods are more efficient but don't necessarily bring in the same volumes. Eventually it all works as a cost effective form of running an organisation, other wise they wouldn't bother.

While the tactics of selling lines or scratchcards are not the best, and its not the nicest job in the world, the business plan of the charity is not necessarily flawed. They're operating commercially with a guaranteed return. Not something you can rely on by putting collection tins on shop counters.

Now I won't comment on that particular charity and their practices and ethos, but purely looking at the methods of collecting and using money, it is pretty sound.

allanb49

Degsy wrote: »

He works harder to avoid paying tax..tax that could help charities in his own country but thn why should he give a shiit about the people who put him where he is now?
He's happier shaking hands with despots and arms-dealers.

They're the ones that have the money

Degsy

Fratton Fred wrote: »

U2 is a multi million euro business, I'm retty sure they have the odd accountant or two that does all that for them. Just like Microsoft do, which is why they use Ireland in the same way U2 use Holland.

If he wants to "use" another country to feather his own nest he should spare the rest of the world his self-righteous prating about the need to increase taxation to spend on overseas aid.

Cookie_Monster

Degsy wrote: »

If he wants to "use" another country to feather his own nest he should spare the rest of the world his self-righteous prating about the need to increase taxation to spend on overseas aid.

+1 on this. Pay up or shut up Bono

ejmaztec

Degsy wrote: »

Bono certainly subscribes to that thesis..why in order to Save an irish cancer Hospice he weighed in with..not one million euro..not 500,000 euro..not 10,000 euro but with a pair of used sunglasses.

The horrible,money-grabbing,tax-dodging dwarf will die screaming.

It's a risky business accepting gifts or donations from some people.

I'd have to round up half a dozen lawyers, and a camera crew, to witness the hand-over document being signed and witnessed in triplicate. I wouldn't want to end up in court two years later for stealing some skid-marked souvenir boxers.:eek:

amacachi

This is how charity, government and business work unfortunately. Set up a "charity" and get as much publicity as possible, it doesn't matter how little good you actually do, then bombard and campaign for government funding, promising that you'll finally start making a difference. Then ya get the money but it's going through the same inefficient system it always did instead of getting near countries that need it.

Degsy

amacachi wrote: »

Then ya get the money but it's going through the same inefficient system it always did instead of getting near countries that need it.

It could be very efficient indeed.

Boner could simply liquidate all his assets and give them away to the causes he holds so dear.
He wont do it though,he prefers to hang onto his hundreds of millions and badger the average man to contribute.
A hypocrite of the first order.

bm365

The money was just resting in his account!

Seriously though, anyone with any bit of common sense can see that those figure are the norm for a Charity. There isnt really anything questionable about it.

This thread just seems like another excuse for certain 'Keyboard Warriors' to have a go at Bono.

Dr Strange

Degsy wrote: »

Boner could simply liquidate all his assets and give them away to the causes he holds so dear...

Ha, reminded me of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbrpbLZMNmw

gizmo

While I dislike Bono as much as the next guy, ONE seems to be more of a lobbyist group who do advocacy work rather than actual direct charity work. The idea being that the work they do helps raise more money than they actually have themselves. Surely groups like that are pretty important too?

Degsy

gizmo wrote: »

Surely groups like that are pretty important too?

Important in that they bolster the ego of the people fronting them...and as has been proven,line a fair few pockets on the way.

Bono has demonstarted time and again that the only thing he actually cares about is making money for himself.

siscri

I've been on the mailing list for One since 2008 and having a quick look through the 11 e-mails I've received in that time (all archived in g-mail) not one of them is looking for a donation, nor is there even a button to click if I wanted a donation. It's all petitions, awareness, etc.

In addition, if you go to one.org you'll see there is no donation button, or at least I can't see one at first glance.

They've never asked me for money and as a result I've never donated to them so I'm not too bothered how they spend their money.

Would these reports stop me from donating to them in the future if they asked? Maybe...I'd at least look at what they're going to use my donation for, as every donor should ask. Still, I understand that all their work is admin and awareness, so to be honest I'm surprised that any money made it to any charity. Shouldn't it all go on wages and running costs if that's the point of the organisation?

Has anyone ever donated to them?

Biggins

A representative for Bono's Aids charity has spoken out after the organisation came under fire for spending more money on wages than on good causes.

The U2 rocker has thrown himself into humanitarian work over the last few years and set up the ONE campaign to help fight the Aids epidemic and combat global poverty.

But the organisation hit the headlines for the wrong reasons this week after it was revealed the non-profit group took nearly £9.6 million in public donations in 2008, but only £123,155 was distributed between three charities, according to documents obtained by the New York Post.

The group's wage bill amounted to more than £5 million and the organisation was also criticised for sending out expensive gift boxes to media organisations.

ONE spokesman Oliver Buston has now defended the way the organisation is run, insisting the money is used for promoting its campaign and raising awareness rather than being handed straight to those who need help.

He says, "We don't provide programs on the ground. We're an advocacy and campaigning organisation."

http://uk.news.launch.yahoo.com/dyna/article.html?a=/23092010/364/bono-s-charity-rep-defends-wage-bill.html&e=l_news_dm

He's not running a charity, its a political lobbying organisation - and he should call it that!
It's not a friggin' charity in my mind.

I won't be giving a cent to it.

siscri

Biggins wrote: »

He's not running a charity, its a political lobbying organisation - and he should call it that!
It's not a friggin' charity in my mind.

I won't be giving a cent to it.

Lobbying people in political power is sometimes the most effective way to provide 'charity' - you could either give someone who lives in poverty a bit of cash (your idea of charity) or you can convince people in power to change the legislation that causes these people to live in poverty (Bono's idea of charity).

Both are accurate ideas of charity.

And see my last post...they're not looking for you to give a cent to it. So everyone's happy.

Fratton Fred

siscri wrote: »

And see my last post...they're not looking for you to give a cent to it. So everyone's happy.

Seeing as one of the Director's father has pledged to give away nearly all of his $2.6Bn fortune to charity, i doubt if they need a few bob from people like us.

johnn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1pzgrHY5FA

PeterIanStaker

Dempsey wrote: »

So basically his 'charity' is just a multi million dollar ego trip.

Didnt think my opinion of him could get much lower, but it has

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/19/opinion/19iht-edtheroux.html

Article about him (and other people) doing the charity ego trip.

phasers

AnonoBoy wrote: »

They listed those gifts on the radio this morning. A 15 dollar notebook and a 20 dollar bottle of water.

20 dollars for a bottle of water? You can get 6 for €1.70 in lidl. That's about 70 bottles he could have bought for the price of his one.

Someone should tell Bono, he could buy a load of them and send them to Africa

Fratton Fred

phasers wrote: »

20 dollars for a bottle of water? You can get 6 for €1.70 in lidl. That's about 70 bottles he could have bought for the price of his one.

Someone should tell Bono, he could buy a load of them and send them to Africa

Someone would just complain that he didn't send Evian.

johnn

phasers wrote: »

20 dollars for a bottle of water? You can get 6 for €1.70 in lidl. That's about 70 bottles he could have bought for the price of his one.

Someone should tell Bono, he could buy a load of them and send them to Africa

It was pink Ballygowan they were selling in Lidl & he didn't want to give his money to Boyzone

phasers

Fratton Fred wrote: »

Someone would just complain that he didn't send Evian.

Reminds me of the Crystal water they had in Superquinn for €45 per bottle.

the fcuk like? What kind of twats pay that much for water?

A Primal Nut

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

I remember hearing that for one of the largest charities in Ireland only 1c in every €1 actually ends up being spent on charity as such. the rest goes on admin, wages and advertising.

So if a person helps to build a tap for clean water or sanitation facilites, you consider the wages/expenses towards that person are a waste? Or if a person helps to educate third world farmers to improve productivity, for example, their wages/expenses are also a waste? Seems to be what you are implying by that comment.

ONE is an organisation that takes signatures from ordinary people to put pressure on politicians to make decisions. All expenses comes from Bono and whoever else sits on the board of directors. But somehow that is being turned around to suggest Bono gains financially, even though he is the one paying much of the expenses of the organisation. How does that make sense?

Degsy

A Primal Nut wrote: »

suggest Bono gains financially

I bet he does..he's a money-grubbing hypocrite and as such deserves to roast in hell.

Fratton Fred

phasers wrote: »

Reminds me of the Crystal water they had in Superquinn for €45 per bottle.

the fcuk like? What kind of twats pay that much for water?

I would, as long as Cheryl Cole had a bath in it first

Degsy

Fratton Fred wrote: »

I would, as long as Cheryl Cole had a bath in it first

Maybe bono uses it to wash his jeans and cowboy hat.

Sonnenblumen

Trashbat wrote: »

Whats not rational about despising a level of perceived self importance that elevates an average pop star to political powerhouse?

Or the bands movement of business interests off shore to avoid tax?

There's rational reasons a plenty.

Sounds more like tough tits.

Bono has written some excellent songs, a terrific performer, leads a hugely successful Irish band, has used his pop fame to affect political change with growing success, the band's management have plenty of business acumen and like many internationally successful irish businesses apply the acumen with skill but integrity. Yes I and many others like Bono, the moaning suckers, well they waste time sucking tough tits. ::p

Degsy

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

Yes I and many others like Bono, the moaning suckers

The only people who can be accurately described as suckers are the idiots who continue to swell this man's coffers by going to his gigs and buying his wretched music.

You may like Bono but he cares not one whit about you..he merely sees you as a source of tax-free income.

Thats how principled he is.

KevinVonSpiel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRMmP6u1lXM

Check out 07:54 on.