I received a call from a charity near and dear to my heart, breast cancer. If ever there were a fan of boobs, only Bill Clinton can top me (mainly because I only have eyes for one set, but that doesn’t stop me from supporting boobs the world over).
In any event, when you get a phone call from a charity, chances are that only 50% of the money actually goes to the charity (half goes to the company that actually makes the call). It gets ugly thereafter….
I asked the caller (and pay attention to the phrasing), “I would like to know the breakdown of how much actually goes to women with breast cancer”.
“Fifteen percent goes to chatitable”…
I cut her off. “Thank you for your call but I value my money more than spending 85 percent of it on administration”. She hung up.
I’m a big boob supporter. Think of me as a Victoria’s Secret Double D fan of breasts. I love ’em almost as much as asses. Nothing beats a great ass. That said, I’m not giving my money to a charitable organization that values the organization more than the charity by an 8-1/2 to 1-1/2 margin. It’s as simple as not wanting to waste money on a bloated organization.
In any event, in the US, of you’re contacted by a charity, they are obligated by law to give you the percentage that goes to actually helping people. I won’t give to any charity worse than 15% administration to 85% charitable good. I have to run my own company on tighter margins than that most years.
Brings to mind the Clinton Foundation… As rich as the Clintons are, 85% goes to administration… Funny thing, that. Who would want to elect someone who has a such a ridiculous penchant for mismanagement. Just sayin’.
Fit Recovery 
Or, you could argue, someone with the neck to charge 85% really does know how to run a business. Just not a charity. Over here in Ireland we’ve just had a massive scandal with a suicide-based charity. Alas, not the first, nor the last such scandal. But you are right to question them. We are one of the most generous in the world when it comes to giving, but these scandals are hitting the sector hard.
As they should! I have nothing but disdain for those who use charity to enrich themselves. I can see a decent salary, but 85%?! I’m with you, that’s disgusting.
charitynavigator.org is a good start to vetting most charities. I have been using this for over a decade Jim. I stopped giving to all charoties a long time ago when I was enlightened that most spend 60% to 90% on admin costs and salaries. The only charity I give to is to the FoodBank, in the form of food and goods.
When a charity pays its “CEO” or “Director” 200k, 400k or more, then to me that is NOT a charity. It is a Corporate Enterprise, DISGUISED as a charity. Red Cross, Salvation Army, Unicef, etc… are all forms of scams. Sure, they give some relief to some people in disasters, but the reality IS, they spend 60 to 90 cents of every dollar on salaries and admin costs. #bs
Sorry to say, that most cancer charities are not on the up and up as well.The cancer industry is a 30 billion dollar enterprise, that has little results to show. The efficacy rate for most cancers is below 30%. But the med and hc industry won’t tell you that. It’s far from the claimed 60%…
A good alt source of info is the Gary Null show. Offering different pov’s and another side other than corporate/gov info.
But that is another story! The broken HC and medical industry of this nation… 😛
G
Right with you up till the cancer part. My buddy Brad would probably make a better argument than I would though. He’s still on the right side of the grass pumping air, and I’ve gathered he’s pretty happy about it.
Oh yeah, like I said, around a 30% efficacy rate. And it largely depends on the type of cancer. Some cancers have a very high efficacy rate, while others have less than 3%. It’s a very complex discussion and there are things about the industry that most do not know or would want to know.
Fighting and beating it is the ultimate imo. But chemo is poison and utilizing nutrition, positive mind-body processes are proving to be a better path.
Although sometimes chemo is necessary, but not always. Though a lot of doctors ‘push’ chemo as a first line of treatment. Thankfully, there are alt medicine practitioners starting to seek alternative ways.
It’s a horrible disease without question. Glad your buddy has won that battle.
Good to know that it has been mandated by law in the US to mention the percentage of donations that actually reach the individual. in need. So the people who donates, get to know. Many nations won’t have such laws, and the charities make good use of the situation.
They used to here as well. It’s disgusting.