Consumers' Foundation faces a crisis

Having served as a guardian angel for consumers for 25 years, the non-profit Consumers' Foundation (消基會) is facing a grave financial crisis and might have to close its doors next month if capital doesn't start flowing in.

"Now the foundation has a working fund of only NT$760,000 (US$23,800), which is just enough to pay employees' salaries next Friday," Jason Lee (李鳳翱), the foundation's chairman, said during a phone interview yesterday.

"This is an unprecedented crisis. We hope the public can make donations or subscribe to our magazines to show support and encouragement," he said.

With 27 paid workers and several examination projects being carried out each month, the foundation has weathered a monthly capital gap of NT$300,000 for six or seven years.

Its huge group of volunteers, numbering between 400 and 500 around the nation, is the key factor to supporting the organization in its ongoing battles with ill-natured businesses.

"Many people think we are a government agency. But the foundation is a non-governmental organization, which mainly relies on public and corporate donations to fund its operations," he said.

However, due to an economic downturn and its persistent efforts to safeguard consumers' interests, which perhaps have incurred hostility from businesses, donations received nose-dived to a combined NT$100,000 in April and May, as opposed to its monthly expenditures of NT$1.2 million on personnel, examinations and utility fees.

The foundation once obtained a record-breaking donation of NT$10 million from a local bank, Lee said.

"We are not confronting businesses. In fact, our efforts to ferret out questionable products are an effective way to protect quality corporations," he said.

Dwindling subscriptions to its magazine Consumer Reports of Taiwan also dented its financial health, Lee said.

With the number of subscribers declining from a peak of 30,000 a few years ago to the current 11,000, the foundation is losing NT$20 million per year.

In addition, it stopped charging fees on written complaints this year, a policy aimed at serving more consumers but expected to lose NT$800,000 annually.

The foundation receives an average of 4,000 written complaints and 50,000 phone calls to make complaints or consult with volunteer lawyers every year. It holds press conferences every week to unveil examination results or call on the public not to consume unsafe foodstuffs, like US beef.

"I hope the public can treat and take care of us like a winged steed, so that we can continue to serve and protect consumers," Lee said.

This is not the first time that the foundation faces a "life or death" juncture. In 1994, when lawyer Lin Shih-hua (林世華) served as the foundation chairman, he had to reach into his own pocket on occasion to pay employees' salaries.

"Every penny must be used correctly. Increasing income and decreasing expenditure is the best way to help the non-profit organization weather the crisis," said foundation vice chairman Cheng Jen-hung (程仁宏).