“Thirteen charitable organizations raised more than $1 million each in California by hiring for-profit fundraisers last year but got back 10 percent of the money or less, according to newly released data from the state attorney general,” California Watch is reporting.
“Some prominent charities – such as Amnesty International, Save the Children Federation and Defenders of Wildlife – actually lost money in the fundraising campaigns run by for-profit companies. Charity watchdogs say many such organizations might have good reason to take an initial loss in cultivating new donors. The charities point out that the numbers don’t show future revenue from donors who continue to give.
“Other organizations, often representing popular causes like support for police, firefighters or veterans, get poor ratings from charity watchdogs for doing little charitable work and hiring fundraisers notorious for taking the vast majority of donors’ money.”
The rest of the article is here.
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I use CharityNavigator.org to review the % of money actually spent on the primary mission of the charity I am considering donating to. They also rate Accountability and Transparency.
Online fundraising sites are the future. These have little to no overhead that sucks up donated dollars. There are great sites that anyone can set up a fundraider for which 98-100 percent of the donations go directly to benefitting the recipient. one example is here: http://www.crowdrise.com/
As Jeff always says: “the internet is changing how we communicate”
Speaking of fundraisers… I see a number of the Salvation Army “red kettles” around town. Salvation hires some of those they try to help to man the kettles in front of stores, the post office, etc. A good cause, but…
do they have a dress code for the kettle workers? Do they instruct the kettle workers on how to act? I have seen a couple of the SA kettle wokers in front of the downtown Safeway and in front of CVS that sure need some improvement in their selection of tee shirts (and what is printed on them) and in their behavior while representing Salvation Army.
Do not get me wrong, it’s a wonderful effort, but it would be more sucsessful with some standards applied to those kettle workers that seem to be a bit challenged in their manner and clothing choices.
Except for a dollar or two into a canister or kettle, I don’t donate on the spur of the moment. I never donate via unsolicited phone call or email. I never donate when I’m sent an unsolicited “gift” (calendar, cards, address labels) even when I’ve given before. I do donate to the charities I choose to when I choose to. I don’t donate to those who try to use guilt, obligation, and pressure. I donate to some national and international causes, but prefer to give more to legitimate state and local organizations. We each have our comfort zones. It is good to use Charity Navigator as Sharon pointed out. It is also good to find out how a charity uses your personal information. Find out (Charity Navigator helps with this) if they share your contact information with others and if that sharing is opt-in or opt-out. Many otherwise good charities make a big mistake in doing opt-out information sharing. I think they call that putting you on the sucker list.
Charity is confusing and the question is always there whether a donation will do more harm than good. Often the money in a charity becomes the driver rather than the urge to truly help. Can someone be hired to show charity? Too often the answer is no. When charities give things are they creating a dependence and making the problem even worse? Too often the answer is yes. These are important questions and I don’t think Charity Navigator will be of much help with them.
I have been around a lot of groups and know a little about the cost of fundraising: Best bet is to stay local and give to those you know are serving in your community.
John
Yes good point John.
I have always wondered about the effectiveness of paid fundraising and this article confirmed my skepticism. This is a strategy that the organization I would for does not employ. I think that anyone you want to give money to should be willing to share their core financial documents, including 990 forms, audited financial statements, conflict of interest statements, and, if you are donating to a specific program, individual project financial statements.
I like Charity Navigator, and also use Guidestar, but would caution people that sometimes these tools do not provide an accurate picture. Organizations that are service providers, do fee for service work to fulfill their mission, or manage programs that require co-pays from recipients, often cannot separate payments for staff time and payments for direct services.
I think Greg is dead on, you need to do your own research. At the end of the day you give money to people you trust, and to trust one you have to have a relationship.