I thought I’d write a new topic regarding the pros & cons with charities since it’s the gift giving season.
This is the time of year when most people tend to give to charities. People are more likely to help others out during Thanksgiving through Christmas than any other time of the year. (aside from natural disasters) With that being said, how does one decide who to donate their hard-earned money to? After all, scandal has rocked most of the larger charitable organizations over the years, so what are your options? The Red Cross has been plauged with numerous thefts of donations over the years. Here is just a small example of the most recent thefts over the past few years:
There’s the fundraiser in Louisiana caught padding her own bank account with donations, the manager in Pennsylvania who embezzled to support her crack cocaine habit and the executive in Maryland who forged signatures on purchase orders meant for disaster victims, to name a few.
But the biggest criminal scandal inside the Red Cross surfaced in New Jersey last year. And though it’s been kept off the front pages, it ranks among the biggest charity frauds ever.
At the center of the scandal is Joseph Lecowitch, chief executive of the Hudson County Chapter, and his bookkeeper Catalina Escoto.
Escoto allegedly gave herself at least $75,000 in bonuses. All told, prosecutors say the duo stole well over $1 million in Red Cross funds, squandering it on gambling and each other. Escoto pleaded not guilty. Lecowitch died after he was indicted.
“The bookkeeping methods of Mr. Lecowitch and Ms. Escoto leave a lot to be desired,” says prosecutor Michael D’Andrea.
The New Jersey fiasco, in which donations and government grants were all stolen, happened right under the nose of Red Cross headquarters. Critics say the reason the Red Cross has so little control over its chapters that the chapters are the ones pulling the strings: they collect most of the donations, dominate the national board and resist tighter controls by headquarters.
Here’s a link if you’d like to read the whole story. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/07/29/eveningnews/main516700.shtml
There’s a site called charitynavigator.org that will help you weed through all the confusion of donating to a charity as well as listing all sorts of information about the most popular charities.
The Salvation Army is another charity plauged with problems such as misappropriation of funds, theft, etc. The Salvation Army is exempt under Internal Revenue Code from filing Form 990 as a “church or convention or association of churches.” As a result, Charitynavigator.org lacks sufficient data to evaluate their financial health. We know many donors are interested in this organization and have asked the Salvation Army to submit their financial data to us for review, and they have elected to decline, as they are allowed under federal law.
Another issue many people wonder about is the amount of compensation the CEO of each charity makes. All CEO’s in every charity I looked into make well into 6 figures and many charities won’t even list what their CEO makes, such as the Salvation Army.
Do you think your donations should be lining the pockets of greedy CEO’s, or do you consider it “just another business” and it’s not a big deal? And what percentage of your money is actually going towards the charity itself? Due to shady accounting practices, nobody really knows the answer to this question but often times it’s as little as 10%.
As for me personally, I don’t give to the large charities such as the Red Cross or Salvation Army. I’d rather see my donations at work closer to home, so I contribute more to the local food banks and soup kitchens, local GoodWill chapters, etc.
The Charity business is a multi-billion dollar a year money maker, and that’s just what is reported. I happen to think it’s closer to the trillions myself.
What are your thoughts on this issue and how do you decide who gets your donations?
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{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m with you. I keep my donations close to home, and if someone calls me asking, or sends me something in the mail, they get nothing. I prefer to choose where my funds go.
I always put my change in the jars at stores and restaurants (I’ve known several of the people for whom they were being collected). I throw money in the bottle at the Credit Union to buy kids shoes for Christmas, and I, through my store, donate a LOT of items to local charities and poker runs (for charity). I know where all of my money is going, and I like it that way.
For some of the reasons mentioned above, the majority of my donations are to local reputable organizations. One exception is a child sponsored through Compassion International.
Besides financial support, volunteering time, labor and other resources are also appreciated by the specific charities. Having a personal investment has been very rewarding, as I’ve met some really wonderful people through the years.
I have recently worked with the Salvation Army in adopting a local family for the holiday season. They were an amazing group of people and dropping off the presents to the adopted family was an amazing experience. I (and many others) have seen the work that they do locally first hand. Have their been problems on the corporate level? Yes, the news outlets have reported several. But the Salvation Army also helps a lot of people in our community – I’ve seen it in action.
In regards to the “bell ringers”, one has to wonder how much money these people pocket before turning in their contributions each evening. Have you seen the type of people they hire for this activity? Their not exactly the most clean-cut looking bunch. From what I’ve heard (and I could be wrong) they hire local people from the homeless shelters to do this job each season. How much money do you think these people pilfer from their buckets each night? I’m not implying that all of them do this, but I’m willing to bet it happens more often than people think.
I’ll donate my time or some canned goods, befoe I part with my hard earned money.
I have always felt guilty when I walk by the bell ringers if I don’t drop in some money. But Comment #4 raised some legitimate concerns. If those people are indeed hired from the homeless shelters, then there is no doubt that they do need the money also, but it does make one wonder how much (if they do “pilfer” from the containers) is going for booze, drugs, or cigarettes. For the most part, I try to take my donations directly to the source — bet it Harbor House, City of Refuge, Red Cross, or Salvation Army.
There are a few mail-in places that I feel are worthwhile. One of those being St. Judes. Does anyone know of any bad vibes or publicity about St. Judes?
Be cautious about telephone solicitations. Many of those are hired professionals soliciting the money. An organization will contract with a firm to do the soliciting and then quite a large percentage of the money goes to them. If I am going to donate to an organization, I want to do it at the local level and not the national level. As stated above, there are a few exceptions.
i would imagine the buckets are secure so that maybe they can only be opened with a key….god all of you people amaze me…..
if people dont have a job or do something to contribute to society then they are the scum of idaho falls………if they do have a job like this, contributing to society obviously they’re skimming the money!! now which is it?
do you want to keep negativing their existence or keep negatiing their contribution to society…..?
typo negativing= negating
“you would imagine the buckets are secure”, but you don’t know. We’re having what’s called a discussion Tiger Lilly. That’s what happens on a blog. Nobody called anyone else “scum”, so get off your high horse.
If theft of billions of dollars can occur each year on the “corporate level” from dozens of corporations, I’m sure a couple hundred dollars could be pilfered from a homeless person from a little red bucket with a hole in the top! Stop living in a fantasy world and open your eyes.
you are suggesting that merely because that person is homeless that they will pilfer from the bucket!!
Possibly they should get some officialdom to devote their time to this and this wouldnt happen! Maybe some clean cut ex prosecutor or one of his cronies from the police department could be trusted with collecting the donations.
I’m not saying the all pilfer from the buckets and it doesn’t matter if their homeless, a student or an Ammon single Mother, I’m sure it happens. Like I said, look at all the billions of dollars that is pilfered by large corporations that don’t have a bucket in front of them full of cash. And these people have got million dollar homes and they still. Tell me someone living on the streets (usually because of a drug habit) isn’t going to take money out of that bucket.
That’s ok, you keep giving them your money. I’ll take mine elsewhere.
Just like that homeless guy that stands out in front of Walmart with his backpack and his “God Bless You” sign. He’s a thief. He’s taking peoples hard earned money without working for it. He’s not too proud to beg, but he’s too proud to get a job? I don’t buy it. He can stand on his feet for 10 hours a day begging for money but he can’t stand on his feet for 8 hours and push a broom or grill a burger? I don’t feel sorry for those kind of people, maybe you do.
you are right, you are free to give or not give your charitable dontations through whatever avenues you deem suitable! however you tell me to get off my high horse……..you are the judgemental one here……..im just counting all the different types you deem your judgement on…………though the ammon single mom made me laugh……guess im just as judgemental on the idaho falls single moms
Wasn’t there an Idaho Falls single Mother that robbed a bank last month? (gotta keep an eye on those single Moms!)
Seriously. If anything, the real scummy folk of IF are single mothers! Not all single mothers, mind you, but there’s a good chunk.
Welfare, food stamps, child support, no job…booze, meth and cigarettes are the main expenses. Live with the boyfriend so they don’t have to pay rent (or for some of the drugs). Yep, we’ve got some real nice young ladies around here.
Maybe I’m just the unlucky one on this board to meet this bunch…nobody else seems to think it’s that much of a problem.
I have to agree with you there Marcus, which is why I’ve been single for the past 10+ months! That’s why I started the “single” post back up again. Good women are few & far between in this town.
Has anyone gotten in on this 100 dollar raffle the Red Cross is doing? 100 dollars buys you a raffle ticket to win a 5 bedroom 3 bath house, complete with a home theatre room that includes a 52″ plasma TV & surround sound. The house is located at 615 Chesterfield. Here’s a link to the details
http://www.redcrossidaho.org/tagline_detalle.asp?SN=200&Index=477&IDCapitulo=XS9D94N21E
Only problem is: they have to sell at least 2200 of the 3000 tickets and they’ve only sold a little over 200 tickets so far. The deadline to buy tickets is noon this Thursday the 18th and their holding the drawing on Friday the 19th.
If they don’t sell a minimum of 2200 tickets, they will give the winner half of the proceeds collected.
If you have already donated 100 dollars and don’t agree with these rules, you can opt before the 18th and get your money back.
I think it’s a pretty good deal though. A 1 in 3000 chance to win a brand new home.
i have to agree with you on the single moms, and the thing is they have enablers. Anytime i hear of a young girl getting pregnant who is going to be a single mom, all their friends think it’s so fantastic, their families are so supportive. It’s like they’re encouraged by some people, and somehow they’re able to go out 4 or 5 nights away to the bar, while probably the grandparents are babysitting the two year old. Maybe you should start up a post on this topic
Support is a good thing, enabling is not.
I’m definitely for helping a single mom, they really need the emotional support. They also need to learn how to be a mom, and enabling them to run rampant while someone else watches their baby is not teaching them anything.
The deed is done, after that it’s time to teach the girl, not just babysit.