Charities' attack on McConnell Malawi aid

Charity bosses fear the First Minister's "national fundraising drive" will starve them of desperately needed cash, putting some out of business and harming voluntary work at home and abroad.

McConnell, who has just returned from a five-day aid trip to Malawi, did not inform Scottish charities of his plans, and has still to work out the fine detail. One senior charity source said: "This could be a disaster for us."

They also claim McConnell's fundraising drive will erode the traditional dividing line between the fiercely independent voluntary sector and government, confusing the public and further harming a sector still recovering from a series of corruption scandals.

Scots give 260m a year to charity, supporting vital work both at home and abroad. Fundraisers say this is a "finite pot" of cash over which they must compete to survive.

McConnell's plan, which he will flesh out this week, is expected to take the form of a central collection effort for Malawi, run by the Scottish Executive and similar to the disasters emergency appeals operated across the UK by 13 leading aid agencies.

But Scotland already has a disaster emergency appeal, which was set up last year, raising 2.8m in just 48 hours during January's Tsunami appeal.

Fiona Duncan, chairwoman of the Institute of Fundraising Scotland, said: "We are concerned that the Executive's focus on one country may be to the detriment of other causes, both at home and abroad."

She added: "There are around 18,000 charities in Scotland, many of which rely heavily on voluntary income and the generosity of supporters to carry out their vital work.

"There is a danger that Scottish charities might miss out on donations and support as a result of this proposal. This loss of income could have a significant impact upon their ability to provide the essential services that they are relied upon to deliver in local communities and beyond."

The backlash against McConnell's plan is also coming from the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), the umbrella group for voluntary bodies in Scotland.

Associate director Stephen Maxwell said: "An Executive-led public appeal could have implications for the future of charitable fundraising in Scotland."

He said that people gave to charities because they were assured they were independent of government. "An Executive-led appeal may affect that attraction and the pull of an appeal," he said.

Maxwell added: "There is a suspicion that the reason a public appeal may be attractive is that, constitutionally, his [McConnell's] powers are limited."

Privately, many of those who run Scotland's charities are far more scathing about McConnell's plans. Leading organisations have expressed their fury over the scheme.

The head of one leading Scottish charity said: "He hasn't thought about the impact on the Scottish voluntary sector, which is delivering services all over Scotland.

"He hasn't consulted anyone on this. This is about promoting giving to one to the detriment of others."

The charities believe they would not be able to compete with the Scottish Executive's massive profile.

"If the Executive does get a head of steam it will compete with traditional charity giving," said a fundraiser for another aid organisation.

"It hasn't engaged with the main Scottish development agencies on this. It's fair to say people are furious."

McConnell's move comes with charities still recovering from the Breast Cancer Research scandal. The charity had its assets frozen after it emerged that only 1.5m of the 13m it raised had actually been donated to charity.

That was followed by further allegations that the Moonbeams children's cancer charity had put only 70,000 of almost 3m raised towards sufferers and their families.

Public confidence in the system plummeted, with surveys showing that less than 50% of Scots say they would give money, forcing many charities to breaking point.

Any further threats to their income could therefore have a catastrophic effect.

McConnell will outline his plans on Wednesday in Parliament when he will report back on his Malawi trip, during which the First Minister met the country's president and pledged support for the nation, one of the poorest in the world.

Sources close to the First Minister say that McConnell had not intended to announce the scheme last week, but had been bounced into it after newspapers began to set up their own campaigns.

A spokesman for the Scottish Executive said: "This is a nationally co-ordinated effort to raise money for various activities in Malawi.

"It will not necessarily be run by the Scottish Executive. He wants it to be co-ordinated in a similar way to the Disaster Emergency Committee."