Citizen Congress Watch struggles to balance books as virus slump hits donations
Citizen Congress Watch struggles to balance books as virus slump hits donations
2020-02-18
Not-for-profits that rely on donations are suffering from the economic slump caused by the novel coronavirus. Donations to Citizen Congress Watch have taken a nosedive. The public oversight group compiles records and reports to maintain transparency and accountability in Taiwanese politics. But without an urgent injection of cash, the group will have to shut down next month.
Citizen Congress Watch. A wall of folders holds records on all the goings-on of the legislature. Its website provides the public with a detailed breakdown of each legislator’s attendance and participation rate at each legislative sitting. But the homepage carries an eye-popping danger warning: the NGO will have to close down in March if it can’t fix its finances.
Chang Hung-lin
Citizen Congress Watch
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, the whole economy has slowed down. Of course the first thing to be affected is donations to not-for-profits. What we’re worried about is that we might run out of money to pay our staff wages in March.
On average the organization receives NT$8 million in donations annually. Monthly running costs are NT$700,000. Before the outbreak, forecasts suggested they would get an influx of donations after the election. That’s because those who had been donating to election campaigns would be expected to switch to the NGO. But under the shadow of the virus, the balance sheet has dropped to less than NT$200,000.
Chang Hung-lin
Citizen Congress Watch
The legislature’s annual budget is about NT$4 billion. We only have one five-hundredth of that budget. It’s really not a lot at all. We never thought that we would struggle to raise even just NT$8 million.
Founded in 2007, the group publishes oversight reports on every sitting of the legislature, enabling citizens to monitor their elected representatives and potentially weed out those who don’t live up to their jobs. CEO Chang Hung-lin is proud of their accomplishments.
Chang Hung-lin
Citizen Congress Watch
When we started out, the legislature only met for two or three hours a day. Now it’s about four or five hours. The rate at which legislators actively participate and ask questions has also risen from 44% to 90%.
The NGO is calling for donations urgently to allow it continue its work, and keep the government working for the people through the virus crisis and beyond.
疫情影響民眾捐款 公督盟面臨斷炊危機
2020-02-18
武漢肺炎疫情，連帶公民團體都被影響。因為民眾擔心經濟變差，捐款變得保守。公民監督國會聯盟因此面臨斷炊危機，目前只剩20萬經費，但本來一個月連辦公室租金、人事跟各項營運費就要70萬。公督盟喊話希望關心政治的公民踴躍捐款，別讓監督力量消失。
把新科立委的資料夾上架，公民監督國會聯盟除了準備監督新國會，也做好報告網頁，詳實記錄第九屆立委出席率、質詢率等評分。不過網頁首頁卻驚見「紅色警戒、公督盟三月斷炊」的標語。
[[公民監督國會聯盟執行長 張宏林]]
“武漢肺炎的疫情爆發之後，的確也產生了大家在整個經濟的緊縮，最快的影響到的當然就是公民團體的一些募款，我們可能在三月份，我們薪資可能會用完，所以這個是我們蠻緊張的部分”
公督盟一年募得的經費平均800萬，每個月成本至少就要70萬。本來以為選後，民眾會把本來捐給政黨的錢轉捐過來，沒想到遇上武漢肺炎，讓公督盟戶頭裡只剩20萬不到。
[[公民監督國會聯盟執行長 張宏林]]
“立法院一年的預算，大概是40億左右，公督盟事實上只有立法院的500分之1的預算，是非常地少，我們現在沒想到說，連要去募得這500分之1的800萬，都有點辛苦”
從2007年創立以來，公督盟每個立院會期都刊出評鑑報告，讓選民自行淘汰不適任立委，自認做出不少成績。
[[公民監督國會聯盟執行長 張宏林]]
“公督盟剛成立的時候，立法院的開會，每天只有兩三個小時左右，到我們現在大概，提升到四五個小時，那質詢率也從原來的44%，到將近90%”
公督盟希望民眾踴躍捐款，幫助他們度過斷炊危機，以免監督民代的力量中斷。
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