RFDS retains “most reputable charity” title

Research consultants AMR’s charity reputation index has named the Royal Flying Doctor Service as Australia’s “most reputable charity” for a fifth straight year.

The AMR report found the RFDS received top marks on six of the seven criteria the company’s charity reputation index was based on, namely service, innovation, workplace, citizenship, governance, leadership and cost management. The only category where RFDS did not rank top was leadership.

RFDS South Eastern Section chief executive Greg Sam said the organisation was delighted to be honoured for the past five years.

“This award is testament to the hard work and dedication of the RFDS staff, who helped some 292,000 people across Australia in the past year, and to the connection the Service has with the communities we serve,” Sam said in a statement on Monday.

“ ‘More than a service, part of the community’ has been the ethos of the Flying Doctor throughout its almost 90 year history,” said Sam, who noted that 24 per cent of the RFDS’s funding last year came from donations and bequests.

“The public can be assured that the Flying Doctor provides an excellent return on every fundraising dollar it receives and it’s gratifying to know that we have such strong support for our mission to deliver improved health outcomes to remote, rural and regional communities.”