Charities waste SO MUCH money... why?

[Big Cuddly Bear]

I won't name the charity, but for months they were sending every member of my family requests for donations, literature, and other stuff... separately.... so we got 4 of everything.

Well, first off, I can't stand this particular charity, so they were never going to see any of my money anyway, but I called them to have them take all of us off their list. They said they would, and they apparently did... but, get this - they sent all of us a hardback book about the founder of the charity... and a letter that said "We're sorry that you wanted to be removed from our mailing list. We have taken you off our list. Please enjoy this book."

So, let's see... I tell them to take us off the list, and I told them that I would NEVER give them one red cent, and they waste $20 on sending 4 books to us?

( I'm just estimating that it cost them $5 for each book to be printed and mailed... it could be more, it could be less ) These were hard back books that appeared to be of the quality of any you would buy in a book store.

 

[mickaholic4077]

I won't name the charity, but for months they were sending every member of my family requests for donations, literature, and other stuff... separately.... so we got 4 of everything.

Well, first off, I can't stand this particular charity, so they were never going to see any of my money anyway, but I called them to have them take all of us off their list. They said they would, and they apparently did... but, get this - they sent all of us a hardback book about the founder of the charity... and a letter that said "We're sorry that you wanted to be removed from our mailing list. We have taken you off our list. Please enjoy this book."

So, let's see... I tell them to take us off the list, and I told them that I would NEVER give them one red cent, and they waste $20 on sending 4 books to us?

( I'm just estimating that it cost them $5 for each book to be printed and mailed... it could be more, it could be less ) These were hard back books that appeared to be of the quality of any you would buy in a book store.

C'mon,it's no fun not to name the charity!!!

 

[Big Cuddly Bear]

C'mon,it's no fun not to name the charity!!!

If I named the charity, I could see it violating TOS, because it might venture into areas we aren't supposed to talk about here.

 

[phorsenuf]

If I named the charity, I could see it violating TOS, because it might venture into areas we aren't supposed to talk about here.

You could give a hint.

 

[jlima]

Charities who use direct mail have accepted the fact that (for instance) to raise $100,000, they need to spend $300,000 that will bring in $400,000. It's a business decision. In the end, they have $100,000 that they didn't have before.

Sign up at a website called Guidestar; and look at the charity's 990 form. This is their tax return and if you dig into it and look on the right form, they disclose their fund raising expense.

There is a charity here in Southern Nevada that does this kind of fund raising; and they make the papers every now & then for this reason and also how much money the CEO pays herself. It can be disgusting when you see the numbers but . . . perfectly legal.

 

[j's m]

My demented MIL started sending to all kinds of charities, especially the religious ones that would pray for her/prey on her. What they did was sell her name to everyone, and she wouldn't remember she had already sent money that month and would send it every time they sent her an envelope. I caught on when I helped her balance her checkbook and found hundreds of entries for small amounts, 5, 10, 50.

My DH went ballistic and we then checked her checkbook, no more entries. She started sending cash in the envelope, and when we called to get them to stop sending her calendars, return address labels, etc, they denied she sent them money.

Fast forward, she was hospitalized in April, and eventually moved to a nursing home. I can't tell you the amount of mail daily she was getting from these leeches. When I finally just forwarded all her mail, it stopped. Until... they received the change of address from the post office and I now get all this junk mail. They can't be stopped, I tried calling, writing, etc and got nowhere. I remember with the Jerry Lewis telethon it took about 5 years after our last donation for them to take us off the list.

 

[GeorgeG]

Charity is a good thing until it becomes a business. One pitch is that 90 cents out of every dollar goes to the charity or charities of your choice. Why not the whole dollar? Operational costs include some pretty hefty salaries and expense accounts. It's only charity when you hand over the entire dollar directly to the people you want to have it.

 

[agnes!]

My demented MIL started sending to all kinds of charities, especially the religious ones that would pray for her/prey on her. What they did was sell her name to everyone, and she wouldn't remember she had already sent money that month and would send it every time they sent her an envelope. I caught on when I helped her balance her checkbook and found hundreds of entries for small amounts, 5, 10, 50.

My DH went ballistic and we then checked her checkbook, no more entries. She started sending cash in the envelope, and when we called to get them to stop sending her calendars, return address labels, etc, they denied she sent them money.

Fast forward, she was hospitalized in April, and eventually moved to a nursing home. I can't tell you the amount of mail daily she was getting from these leeches. When I finally just forwarded all her mail, it stopped. Until... they received the change of address from the post office and I now get all this junk mail. They can't be stopped, I tried calling, writing, etc and got nowhere. I remember with the Jerry Lewis telethon it took about 5 years after our last donation for them to take us off the list.

Can you mark something like 'Return to Sender' & put the stuff back in the mail?

agnes!

 

[Acklander]

Charity is a good thing until it becomes a business. One pitch is that 90 cents out of every dollar goes to the charity or charities of your choice. Why not the whole dollar? Operational costs include some pretty hefty salaries and expense accounts. It's only charity when you hand over the entire dollar directly to the people you want to have it.

There are plenty of charities out there that use the whole dollar for charity. But, they're usually small ones that work locally, not globally.
The big charities need someone professional to run it. yeah, I think the people running the charites are overpaid, but then again I think CEO's of most major corporations are overpaid.

 

[bettymae1121]

Charity is a good thing until it becomes a business. One pitch is that 90 cents out of every dollar goes to the charity or charities of your choice. Why not the whole dollar? Operational costs include some pretty hefty salaries and expense accounts. It's only charity when you hand over the entire dollar directly to the people you want to have it.

Because in order to have a full time staff to run the charity, you have to pay them and provide benifits. You may need to lease office space or have a warehouse, you need office supplies and need to pay postage to mail things. Some of these resources (like office supplies) could be donated by kind hearted local businesses or indivuals, but if a charity needs something and no one is willing/able to donate it, they have to buy it.

I just got a request from my local food bank, they are starting their drive for Thanksgiving. In the note it says that 96% of my donation will go towards providing food for the needy, only 4% goes to adminstration and fund raising. For every $30 donated, they can provide a full T-day dinner for 8 people. In addition, they never sell or release their donors information so I don't need to worry abot being bombarded by other charities also looking for donations. All around it's an efficiant organization doing a lot of good in my area, and I don't mind a bit that they need 4% to keep the doors open and the lights on.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Charity is a good thing until it becomes a business. One pitch is that 90 cents out of every dollar goes to the charity or charities of your choice. Why not the whole dollar? Operational costs include some pretty hefty salaries and expense accounts. It's only charity when you hand over the entire dollar directly to the people you want to have it.

It is a necessary evil I suppose. I think the trick is to figure out which charties are actually doing something that you agree with.

I will always donate products like food and personal care items.

Currently I am about to donate to St. Judes.

 

[scrapquitler]

I won't name the charity, but for months they were sending every member of my family requests for donations, literature, and other stuff... separately.... so we got 4 of everything.

Well, first off, I can't stand this particular charity, so they were never going to see any of my money anyway, but I called them to have them take all of us off their list. They said they would, and they apparently did... but, get this - they sent all of us a hardback book about the founder of the charity... and a letter that said "We're sorry that you wanted to be removed from our mailing list. We have taken you off our list. Please enjoy this book."

So, let's see... I tell them to take us off the list, and I told them that I would NEVER give them one red cent, and they waste $20 on sending 4 books to us?

It is also very possible that the charity in question did not purchase those books...more likely they were donated or subsidized by a donor.
( I'm just estimating that it cost them $5 for each book to be printed and mailed... it could be more, it could be less ) These were hard back books that appeared to be of the quality of any you would buy in a book store.

It is also very possible that the charity in question did not purchase those books...more likely they were donated or subsidized by a donor.

 

[Big Cuddly Bear]

It is also very possible that the charity in question did not purchase those books...more likely they were donated or subsidized by a donor.

I guess it is possible, but the letter did have the charity header, and the envelope only had the charity address. So, that's what I'm going with.

 

[LukenDC]

Please remember that charities are businesses and most require a well-educated professional workforce to function. Charities must complete annual filings with the IRS, comply with employment laws, raise money, engage in public relations, and provide increasingly sophisticated services to the public. They compete with the private and public sectors for talent.

Given the amount of education, work experience, professional certification, and skill required for senior positions at charities, a six figure salary for senior personnel is often not unreasonable.

 

[Acklander]

Given the amount of education, work experience, professional certification, and skill required for senior positions at charities, a six figure salary for senior personnel is often not unreasonable.

Yeah, but I consider a seven figure salary to be unreasonable

 

[disdanny]

It is always easier to spend OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY!!

 

[Big Cuddly Bear]

Please remember that charities are businesses and most require a well-educated professional workforce to function. Charities must complete annual filings with the IRS, comply with employment laws, raise money, engage in public relations, and provide increasingly sophisticated services to the public. They compete with the private and public sectors for talent.

Given the amount of education, work experience, professional certification, and skill required for senior positions at charities, a six figure salary for senior personnel is often not unreasonable.

And yet, they can't see the stupidity of sending 4 envelopes and books to the same family... including 2 children?

That's just wasted money, no matter how you look at it.

 

[arminnie]

I just send all the stuff back marked 'deceased'. Of course since my father just died I am not lying.

Years and years ago I had an obnoxious roommate who sent out so many wedding invitations (begging for gifts) that many of them came back marked deceased. If you don't know someone well enough to know if they are dead or alive (in your small town of 5000 people) you don't know them well enough to invite them to your wedding.