The Netherlands has around 9,000 charities, many of which overlap, and the Dutch are being driven mad with all the appeals they receive, according to Theo van Loon, who runs a charity for the mentally handicapped.

Van Loon, whose organisation merged last year with a charity for the physically handicapped, says joining forces is the only way forward. There are considerable cost savings to be made in having one central office.
However, charities are loathe to combine resources on an emotional level, Van Loon told Trouw. ‘Whether you collect money to fight cancer or for hungry Africans, it is about an ideal,’ he said.
Competition
He also thinks charities see each other as competition and have difficulty in putting their books on the table for discussion.
The government should encourage mergers by rewarding charities, for instance with the cost of the merger, says Van Loon.
Mergers would also be an advantage to the public, as less money would go to overheads and more to the people in need, he told Trouw.
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