(b)
(c)
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of the criteria adopted for granting approval to such applications and for determining the allocation of the "flag days"; and
whether an organistion permitted to raise funds on a "flag day" in a year is required to raise a specified amount of money in order to gain permission to sell flags to raise funds in the following year; if so, what the reasons are?
Reply:
(a)
(i)
(ii)
The Social Welfare Department received applications from 68, 70 and 91 organisations to hold "flag days" in 1995, 1996 and 1997 respectively.
A total of 50, 52 and 52 organisations were approved to hold "flag days" in, respectively, 1995, 1996 and 1997.
(iii) The main reasons for rejection were as follows:
(1)
the purpose of flag day is outside the ambit of welfare/medical/community services;
(2)
the amount of donation required is relatively small and can be met by other forms of fundraising;
(3)
(b)
(4)
the amount. funds raised by the appplicant in a previous flag day i, well below average compared with net proceeds raised in flag days in that year;
the applicant's expenses ratio in a previous flag day exceeded 10% of its gross proceeds.
Where the number of organisations that meet the assessment criteria exceeds the number of "flag days" available in a year, the Social Welfare Department will allocate the "flag days" by ballot.
The Director of Social Welfare has developed a set of general criteria for assessing applications in consultation with the Subventions and Lotteries Fund Advisory Committee (SLFAC). They include the following-