Charitable organizations with a dark secret.

bobcat

bobcat

Well-known Member
Location
Northern Calif
Many of these organizations have CEO's and company officials making over a million dollars a year, plus perks and bonuses.
Showing pictures on TV of starving people while the head of the organization is making that kind of money just seems wrong to me.

You can go down this list, click on any organization, then scroll down to the bottom to find the top salary in the company.
If you want to verify it, you can Google what the top salary is for that company.

Forbes Top Charities 2024 List - Rankings Of 100 U.S. Charities

(*** FYI, the ranking isn't by the best, it is by volume in private donations).
It's still wonderful to donate, but it doesn't hurt to know where your money goes.
 

Years ago, I was made the volunteer coordinator (as a volunteer myself) for a company that provided nursing care to many indigent folks. I went to a home visit with the nurse who approves who gets what services. The old person, very weak, spent most of their day in bed, unable to do much of anything, very poor, lived in a terrible neighborhood in a house that probably should have been condemned. Her neighbors came in to help now and then, take out her trash, maybe bring her a few groceries. She was denied any services. (She was already receiving one meal a day from a meals-on-wheels type of service, not from the nursing company.)

A month or so later, went on another home visit to a lady who lived in a very upscale neighborhood, a beautiful home, was sitting at a table having her hair done by her hairdresser (who apparently made house calls). She was approved for a housekeeper several days/week. Why? Because it was getting down to the end of the fiscal year and the nursing organization had not spent all of the United Way funds they had received that year. If they didn't, then the amount they would receive the next year would be less.

At that time, via payroll deduction, I was donating my Fair Share to the United Way. I was then invited to a fancy dinner in thanks for that, received a t-shirt or something, too. I told them I didn't want my money spent on dinners for donors or something else. After all of this, I quit donating to any charitable organization (except now the local animal shelter). If I see someone who needs help, I hand them the cash directly. Done.
 
Sometimes it’s difficult to know how to help.

I try to stay local and I’m a sucker for a group of kids and a card table.

We are just coming into Girl Scout cookie season in this area. I stopped buying cookies and started making a donation because 100% of the cash contribution stays local.

We have a ‘soup kitchen’ that started many years ago as a grass roots effort to feed the homeless from a local church basement.

At some point the mission changed and expanded into a multimillion dollar purchase and renovation of a historic church with, new vehicles, paid executive directors, paid fundraising executives, volunteer coordinator, etc…

It all seems unnecessary and kind of sad to spend all of that money to offer a very basic hot meal and sack lunch to go.

8eab10_0b52e3241219462d931e9d62d961063a~mv2.jpg

I suppose the important thing is to find a way to help that is consistent with your values.
 

I used to work for one of the top ten charities. To advance research, the charity would give a doctor all of the latest equipment in exchange for research on his patients for, say, 3 years, then the equipment would become the property of the doctor. This is a very common practice in medical research. You may agree with that or not.
But I think it's some what two faced to plead for "only 63 cents a day", when the CEO of the charity is pulling down 4-5 million/year.
 
I only give goods to local organizations that I trust. I always do research to find out how much of what I give makes it to the people/animals in need.
Also check "Charity Navigator".
It is absolutely scandalous to see people profiting from other people generosity.
@MACKTEXAS As I replied to the thread, I noticed that you reference the same link as I did!
 
In 2006 I was on a volunteer church team{15 of us}, our local Presbytery sent us to D'Iberville, Miss a small Gulf Coast town that was nearly destroyed by the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina&Rita
At lunch one day I asked a local resident if Red Cross &Salvation Army came to assist them 'NO', she said' they abandoned us went to New Orleans instead" I couldn't believe it, just to be sure I asked the local mayor, he said the same thing He told me ' 2 local churches Baptist&Presbyterian' helped us in our time of need'
After hearing that, I never gave money to either of those organizations again
 
There is a large charity that gloms onto land and aggregates it, nominally for conservation.

Yet there are surprisingly choice bits that somehow seem to end up in the hands of very wealthy people rather than being consolidated into the "conservation" mass. These are often in pretty isolated inner parts of the area and the "conservation" lands maintain access routes for them and provide security. There is also some really dubious accounting going on.

Small donors get a calendar, tote bag, or umbrella. Big donors get preferential purchase rights to massive estates, lakes, river frontage, helipads, and airstrips with amenities like guard-housed roads provided.
 
Aunt Bea said:
Sometimes it’s difficult to know how to help.

I try to stay local and I’m a sucker for a group of kids and a card table.

We are just coming into Girl Scout cookie season in this area. I stopped buying cookies and started making a donation because 100% of the cash contribution stays local.

We have a ‘soup kitchen’ that started many years ago as a grass roots effort to feed the homeless from a local church basement.

At some point the mission changed and expanded into a multimillion dollar purchase and renovation of a historic church with, new vehicles, paid executive directors, paid fundraising executives, volunteer coordinator, etc…

It all seems unnecessary and kind of sad to spend all of that money to offer a very basic hot meal and sack lunch to go.

8eab10_0b52e3241219462d931e9d62d961063a~mv2.jpg

I suppose the important thing is to find a way to help that is consistent with your values.
Click to expand...
Sometimes these highly paid directors are good at raising huge amounts of money. Theoretically, they'd be able to help more people that way, but too often, they lose sight of why the organization exists in the first place, and they wind up doing things like restoring old cathedral, which is cool, but costly.

That said, cafeterias are probably the most efficient way to feed large numbers of people, and in the photo, it looks like that's what they're doing. They could also provide shelter to a lot of people in that cathedral.
 
HermitHogan said:
Sometimes these highly paid directors are good at raising huge amounts of money. Theoretically, they'd be able to help more people that way, but too often, they lose sight of why the organization exists in the first place, and they wind up doing things like restoring old cathedral, which is cool, but costly.

That said, cafeterias are probably the most efficient way to feed large numbers of people, and in the photo, it looks like that's what they're doing. They could also provide shelter to a lot of people in that cathedral.
Click to expand...
Yes, you're probably right about the director being good at raising money, and I wouldn't have any objection to them drawing around $200,000 a year or so, but salaries over a million? That just seems wrong to me.

If a person is driving around in a luxury car and dining at upscale restaurants while running an organization that showcases your commitment to the poor and hungry, it just seems hypocritical to me. Perhaps it's just a question of how much is a reasonable salary.
 
I only donate to a local charity I'm familiar with. Besides, they helped me in the past. I also researched a lot big charities with wealthy CEOs and workers on the ground who are paid very little and some volunteers themselves.
 
smiley said:
so "they" want our monies but we are not given details of where it goes ; who it goes to and how? -sounds like a slush scheme to me - however ?? - to give or not to give that is the question - to never give seems awfully mean - hmm I don't know how to fix this one??
Click to expand...
There are websites and organizations available that show exactly how much the CEOs get paid and where every dollar goes. This is a good way to determine who you donate to.
 
I'm sure there are many good ones out there. The one I chose from the list is Heart To Heart. They had a very high efficiency rating, the top salary was $200,000, so I went to their website to check them out. I liked what I saw, and it lets you know where the money is going. Here is their link if anyone else is interested.
Heart to Heart International - A Healthcare Nonprofit Organization
 
In Germany years ago was a man who implemented a kind of "Charity Navigator" on the net. He also wrote a book on criminal charitable organizations. He had to stop the navigator since he and his family got death threads.
 
Many horrible situations that we would like to help and support are being attacked too. So much of the time our money or are goods are being taken by the enemy. It is often times warfare to get the supplies into those who need immediate help. It is so frustrating.
 
I have been donating to North Texas Food Bank for years because I have seen the good they do many times on local TV news reports.

Charity Navigator says: "This charity's score is 100%, earning it a Four-Star rating. If this organization aligns with your passions and values, you can give with confidence."
 

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