An organisation co-founded by superstar

Bono to fight poverty in Africa has come under fire for donating only a fraction of its income to charity.

U2 lead singer Bono is facing questions over his One campaign (Reuters)

The non-profit One campaign received almost £9.6million in donations in 2008 but handed over only £118,000 to good causes.

Figures show that the group also spent more than £5.1million on executive and staff salaries.

One insisted that it was focused on lobbying, not funding charities.


The figures were published by the New York Post, which was one of several US newspapers to receive a host of expensive gifts including leather notebooks valued at £9.60, bags of coffee worth the same amount and £13 water bottles.



The presents were delivered separately in oversized shoe boxes to coincide with this week’s UN summit on the millennium development goals in Manhattan.

One said it took no money from the public and that most of its funding came from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Spokesman Oliver Buston said: ‘We don’t provide programmes on the ground. We’re an advocacy and campaigning organisation.

‘There is a rich and vibrant debate in the UK media about aid that doesn’t happen in the US media.

‘This was an attempt, perhaps in hindsight not the best way, to get our message across.’

Mr Buston added that One employs nearly 120 people worldwide and so the £5.1million spent on wages would result in an average salary of about £42,500.

The charity grants for £64,000 were mostly handed over as prizes to the winners of One’s annual award for ground-breaking advocacy in Africa.

Another initiative spearheaded by Bono to help millions of Aids sufferers in Africa – Red – was criticised in 2007 after it was claimed it raised only £9million for the needy despite costing an estimated £50million to set up. Red disputed this figure.

A spokesman for One said the group was registered as a non-profit organisation in the US, although it did not benefit from British tax breaks for charities.