Uncharitable Charities (or, Why you should tell the Heritage Foundation to piss off)

[Fausto]

GA Secretary of State Cox Cites 11 Uncharitable Charities For High Fundraising Costs & Low Percentage of Funds Devoted to Charitable Programs

ATLANTA ? Secretary of State Cathy Cox today identified 11 charitable organizations that solicited funds in Georgia during 2002 and 2003 as Uncharitable Charities for the small percentage of dollars collected in solicitation campaigns that went to the organization?s charitable purpose. The 2003 Uncharitable list is comprised of registered charitable organizations that conducted charitable fundraising campaigns using a paid solicitor, that filed financial campaign reports between Nov. 1, 2002 and Oct. 31, 2003, that raised over $100,000 in their campaigns and that directed 15% or less of the total proceeds to the charitable organization.

Each year Secretary Cox releases the Uncharitable list to focus public attention on the high fundraising expenses incurred by some charitable organizations. Release of the list also serves to acquaint Georgians with the full range of detailed information about solicitation campaigns available on the Secretary of State?s website.

For 2003, the organization over the $100,000 threshold with the highest percentage of proceeds that went to fundraising costs (and the lowest percentage that was retained by the charity) was the Heritage Foundation, which incurred fundraising expenses of over 95 percent of the total of over $713,000 raised. Following the Heritage Foundation on the list is, in order, the Catholic Medical Mission Board, the Southeastern Paralyzed Veterans Association, the National Association of Police Athletic Leagues, the Committee For Missing Children, the American Association of University Women, the Georgia Junior Chamber of Commerce, the Vietnam Veterans Foundation of Georgia, the Little Heroes Foundation, the Georgia State Lodge Fraternal Order of Police and the Professional Fire Fighters of Georgia.

This is why, when you get that call from the "XXXXX Fund for XXXX Foundation" you should always ask them what percentage of their income actually goes to the charity in question. You'd be surprised how many of them get really, really quiet and evasive when you direct this question at them.

Cliff's Notes

[*]Many of the companies who call on behalf of a charity looking for donations keep the majority of the money they raise for themselves.

 

[StageLeft]

Disgusting, but there are a lot of charities which use the vast majority of donated money to expenses. You might as well give money, in these cases, to a bum on the street.

 

[EyeMWing]

Where are these places like "Christian Children's Fund" that supposedly send money to crazy afghani children and such to buy them shoes? Those places reek of "OMG RIPOFF"

 

[Amorphus]

Originally posted by: EyeMWing
Where are these places like "Christian Children's Fund" that supposedly send money to crazy afghani children and such to buy them shoes? Those places reek of "OMG RIPOFF"

?

That was the most bigoted (and unfounded, for that matter) thing I've heard all day, congratulations.

 

[SweetSweetLeroyBrown]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Disgusting, but there are a lot of charities which use the vast majority of donated money to expenses. You might as well give money, in these cases, to a bum on the street.

The funny thing is many people around here would never give money to a charity or a bum on the street.

 

[C'DaleRider]

Originally posted by: EyeMWing
Where are these places like "Christian Children's Fund" that supposedly send money to crazy afghani children and such to buy them shoes? Those places reek of "OMG RIPOFF"

You know, you really need to do some reading and research (and I know reading is so difficult for you.....ever consider Hooked On Phonics?) before exposing yourself to looking like an uneducated, uninformed a$$clown.

FYI.......from the above maligned Christian Children's Fund's 2003 financial report......you know, the one filed with the IRS, among others, and is open to scrutiny and examination and usually is by the IRS............

For fiscal year 2003, Christian Children's Fund spent 79.3% of all contributions received for the benefit of children in our programs. CCF spent 8.9% on management and administration expenses and 11.8% on fundraising. (By the way, these expense levels are very low for charities as a whole.)

Taken from their filed FY 2003 Financial Report.


So, I'd suggest you do some appropriate research before spouting drivel and showing your biases, ignorance, and stupidity.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: SweetSweetLeroyBrown

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Disgusting, but there are a lot of charities which use the vast majority of donated money to expenses. You might as well give money, in these cases, to a bum on the street.

The funny thing is many people around here would never give money to a charity or a bum on the street.

I was thinking about that the other night... I was walking from a restaurant to my car, and a guy came up to me. He gave me this long story about how he just moved here from West Virginia and he couldn't find work. A church was helping him out. He said his only friend was the Lord. Kept bringing up God. He told me this long story and then said he needed money to buy Similac for his baby. I gave him the $8 I had in my wallet, but I wish I could have given him more. I thought about it afterwards, and I know a lot of people won't give money to someone begging on the street, because they think they'll just use it to buy another bottle of alcohol or something. Well I may be a sucker for giving this guy the $8, but if he made up the whole story I'm sure God will handle him in the end.

 

[Crypticburn]

nevermind

 

[DaveSimmons]

Virtually all of the police / firefighting telephone calls are from sleazy fundraisers like those. Even though they have no real connection to police or firefighters they prey on people's repect for both and their fear of getting on the cops' bad side.

And sadly, most of those "just moved here from podunk", "need gas / bus / baby food" begging lines are straight scams by professional panhandlers. Some of those guys have nice cars and apartments paid for with your donations.

That's why I only give to Northwest Harvest (WA supplier to food banks) and the Seattle Times Fund for the Needy (the paper pays all fundraising costs then splits up the money among local charities).

 

[Trevelyan]

Any charity you get a phone call from.. don't donate to them... If you want to donate to that organization, do it directly, NOT through the phone solicitor... they keep 80-90%.. I should know, I used to work for one of them. We kept 85% of the donations we got..

 

[StageLeft]

And sadly, most of those "just moved here from podunk", "need gas / bus / baby food" begging lines are straight scams by professional panhandlers. Some of those guys have nice cars and apartments paid for with your donations.

Having fallen for the trick once myself (knew it was a trick because same guy 10 min later was pulling the same trick on somebody else as I drove down the road), and almost another (guy who tried to screw me pulled it on me not one week later, with the same lines verbatim), I absolutely refuse to give a stranger any money regardless of what bullsh*t they're trying to feed me.

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: Trevelyan
Any charity you get a phone call from.. don't donate to them... If you want to donate to that organization, do it directly, NOT through the phone solicitor... they keep 80-90%.. I should know, I used to work for one of them. We kept 85% of the donations we got..

And those "Friends of Police" stickers won't keep you from getting a ticket either.

 

[waggy]

The only place we give to is St. jude's childrens hospital. To many of the other places waste a lot of the money. why should 70%+ of the money i give them go to expensis?