The 20 worst charities in America

[Dazon50]

A favorite saying in business is that you have to spend money to make money. Charitable organizations, on the other hand, have to spend money to give money, and it turns out that some are woefully inefficient at channeling donations to the people they're supposed to help.

The non-profit Charity Navigator Web site tracks such expenses via charities’ disclosure statements to the IRS to provide donors with an assessment of how well charities run themselves. Looking only at the supply side for the more than 5,500 charities that it tracks, the organization does not evaluate the impact on the recipients of funds, since that impact is often a subjective appraisal of “effectiveness.”


But it is safe to say that all donors give money not to pay for office supplies and inflated salaries for executives, but rather to the programs that charities undertake to further their goals. It is with this philosophy that we highlight the 20 charities in the U.S. with the highest administrative costs, to show which groups take the most of each donated dollar for themselves, in some cases leaving less than half for the intended recipients of aid.

Whether it be rent on prime office space, generous pay and benefits for the board of directors, or the high fixed costs of running a summer camp, overhead like this reduces the impact of a charity no matter how that money is being spent. Donor beware…

20. Tucson Audubon Society

Administrative expenses: 42.8%

Well-known for its many programs focused on the protection of biodiversity and the environment, the Audubon society, based in Washington, D.C., has chapters across the country, run independently of the main office. Its affiliate in Tuscon, Arizona, which fosters interest in and conservation of the bird population of southern Arizona, has seen its administrative costs skyrocket as the recession has eaten into its incoming donations. Partially due to Executive Director Paul Green’s inflated salary of $78,800, which accounts for more than 7% of the group’s expenses, the Tucson Audubon Society spends almost as much for its office as it does on the birds it aims to protect.

For more:  http://www.mainstreet.com/article/moneyinvesting/news/20-worst-charities-america?obref=obnetwork

[ILADVOCATE]

These organizations have to be made more accountable. There are also non profit agencies (on any level) that have difficulty receiving grants even though their work and specific help to people and where any money contributed is directed towards the people they intend to help but much of the funding goes to known names that may or may not direct the funding where it should go. Much of the revenue can go to the executives of the organizations or advertising. Since all of this information can be publicly obtained people should be aware of this before they contribute but unfortunately the advertising can often make known names as regards charitable agencies seem as if they accomplish more. Its also essential to know exactly what work they have done, not what they claim they do. As well (and this is a separate issue) there are fraudulent agencies passing as charities that are there to help themselves. The whole issue can be very frustrating, including the fact that funds donated to charities that work on an international level may be misused by some of the more corrupt elements if the country is a dictatorship.I agree its best that people do research before they donate and I will look up that website mentioned in the article.

[flmagi]

Boy, there's a charity for everything, isn't there. I think this one is interesting. Can't people think of better places to put their money?

6. National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

Administrative expenses: 55.1%

There has always been a lot of money in horse racing, and the New York-based National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame has attracted some of that cash to further its goal of bringing the history and excitement of thoroughbred racing to the widest possible audience. With a 2007 budget of over $2 million, the museum provides educational program for children and adults, and organizes trips to horse races for interested groups. Unfortunately, over half of its expenses that year (as well as the previous year) went to administrative overhead, fueled in no small part by salaries paid to its director and acting director, together representing almost 10 percent of total expenses.