This tip is regarding charity solicitations via telephone. I've recently been contacted by a telephone solicitor to contribute to a Children's Leukemia Foundation and the envelope arrived today. I telephoned the 800-number identified in the letterhead and asked if this requester was the CLF or a hired collection firm; and how much of my contribution went to the CLF?
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YES! you are SO right! ...I found out years ago that you are extremely lucky if 80% of your money goes to the charity & sometimes it's only 14% (as you said) with ALL the rest going to advertising companies that make a fortune just raising funds. Before I donate, I always ask for the charity's financial information sheet (to answer this question) BEFORE I'll donate to any organization. But, you are right... If you send the money DIRECTLY to the organization, then the charity wont have to pay the money to the fund raising company & they'll get the WHOLE amount!
* Back in the 80's when Romania was communist & the Christians that lived there were severely persecuted we used to donate to "Christian Aid for Romania". (I had heard the founder on a radio program talking about her horrific escape for her home country) We liked this charity because 97% of their money went DIRECTLY to the people it was meant for. They would buy food in bulk, then voltmeters would repackage these bulk food items into individual family box's. They would also save money by shipping these family relief box's by ship. When I stopped sending money because I quit my job I received a HAND WRITTEN letter from the founder thanking my family for it's years of donations... Now THAT'S an organization who really cares!
CharityNavigator.org is a great website to get info on just how much of your contribution goes to help people, and how much goes to administration, etc. You can also find out how much the CEO makes, which can be pretty enlightening.
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