Furious

kswildcat

Sorry for this rant in advance but crooks make me mad as hell.

I'm a sucker for a great charity, especially for kids and our troops. No matter your politics no veteran should be homeless, hungry or be waiting for or denied healthcare. A lot of my giving back to troops is direct (breaks my heart to see all the veterans I see in need) but do donate to some charities as well.

Just learned only 59% donated toWounded Warrior Project goes to the troops. How can these people sleep? Will never see another red cent from me. I will be looking into the Green Beret Foundation as well as others.

genareddog

Yea, I looked into that charity last year and saw that. It's a shame.

silvermouse

charitable organizations and fund-raising are sometimes big business.

CigarFanatic

If you are interested, here is a breakdown of how a dollar is spent at WWP:

http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=12842#.Vr1DMvIrLtQ

I use charitynavigator a lot when I donate.

kswildcat

According to that site WWP is almost or just as good as St Jude. I've always heard St Jude is top notch. Not sure I'd rely on that site.

jlmarta

Hell, if you really wanna see some numbers that'll blow your mind, look up the salary of the head honchos of some of the major charities like the Red Cross, UNICEF, United Way, etc. 

And don't forget to include the perks those folks accept as their rightful due. 

You can google all this info, folks. Just be sure you have a strong stomach when you do 'cause it'll make you sick..... 

johnnyB

Look at the head of the salvation army. He made under 50,000 last year 
Truly doing the most good 

jlmarta

The Salvation Army is the only one of its kind that I'll donate to. I only learned last year about Goodwill being owned by an individual who's making a tidy sum off the folks who think Goodwill is a charity. 

The inventory Goodwill sells is all donated so it costs him nothing. He pays extremely low wages to his employees and pockets the rest. I won't donate a dime to Goodwill - only to the Salvation Army. 

CharlieHeis

jlmarta said:

Hell, if you really wanna see some numbers that'll blow your mind, look up the salary of the head honchos of some of the major charities like the Red Cross, UNICEF, United Way, etc. 

And don't forget to include the perks those folks accept as their rightful due. 

You can google all this info, folks. Just be sure you have a strong stomach when you do 'cause it'll make you sick..... 

There was a hoax that went around a couple of years ago with all this info in it. I'm not saying you are wrong, because there are a lot of overpaid execs, but there is a lot of false information out there.

jlmarta

CharlieHeis said:

jlmarta said:

Hell, if you really wanna see some numbers that'll blow your mind, look up the salary of the head honchos of some of the major charities like the Red Cross, UNICEF, United Way, etc. 

And don't forget to include the perks those folks accept as their rightful due. 

You can google all this info, folks. Just be sure you have a strong stomach when you do 'cause it'll make you sick..... 

There was a hoax that went around a couple of years ago with all this info in it. I'm not saying you are wrong, because there are a lot of overpaid execs, but there is a lot of false information out there.

By golly, you're right, Charlie. I evidently bought into the false email that circulated some time back and I stand corrected. Thanks for pointing that out. 

The following link will take you to truthorfiction dot com and the actual skinny on the charities and how they spend their money. It's more reasonable in terms of percentage but IMHO some of the CEOs still receive salaries that are unconscionable:

https://www.truthorfiction.com/think-before-you-donate-claims-about-charities/

Amos_Umwhat

I'm surprised to hear anything negative about WWP.  What I know about them is that when my son lost his right hand in Afghanistan, his back broken in 6 places, they were 100% there for him and for us.  Also, Fisher House.  Those people were fantastic.

Not saying your info is wrong, or arguing or anything, that's just what happened for us.  I wouldn't hesitate to support them in any way.

silvermouse

here's a link to an overview of wwp's financials, look pretty solid for an org. of this size:

http://www.guidestar.org/ViewPdf.aspx?PdfSource=0&ein=20-2370934

genareddog

Amos_Umwhat said:

I'm surprised to hear anything negative about WWP.  What I know about them is that when my son lost his right hand in Afghanistan, his back broken in 6 places, they were 100% there for him and for us.  Also, Fisher House.  Those people were fantastic.

Not saying your info is wrong, or arguing or anything, that's just what happened for us.  I wouldn't hesitate to support them in any way.

I agree that they are doing good things. But are they a charity or a business? 

genareddog

@amos_umwhat God bless your son and all the men and women who have served our great country. 

jlmarta

genareddog said:..... But are they a charity or a business? 

A lot of folks don't understand the difference between a business and a charity. It's assumed that a business is profit-oriented and that a charity is not. This assumption isn't quite accurate. 

A 501(c)3 charity is a non-profit charitible corporation. By law, it can make all the profit it wants to make. It just can't distribute that profit in the form of dividends, etc. to stockholders. It must keep the profits to be used for whatever charitible purpose the corporation was formed. 

In order for it to continue to exist and operate, it obviously must be run as a business. This includes making a profit. 

raisindot

jlmarta said:

genareddog said:..... But are they a charity or a business? 

A lot of folks don't understand the difference between a business and a charity. It's assumed that a business is profit-oriented and that a charity is not. This assumption isn't quite accurate. 

A 501(c)3 charity is a non-profit charitible corporation. By law, it can make all the profit it wants to make. It just can't distribute that profit in the form of dividends, etc. to stockholders. It must keep the profits to be used for whatever charitible purpose the corporation was formed. 

In order for it to continue to exist and operate, it obviously must be run as a business. This includes making a profit. 

You are correct in this. However, many charities pay executives handsome salaries, and many charities (particularly private foundations) are often set up by wealthy individuals to serve as employers for their otherwise unemployable children and friends (believe, me, I used to work for a Too Big Not to Bail Out that handled investments for not for profits and foundations, and I know of what I speak). 

501(c)3 organizations in general are required to file tax returns that disclose, among other things, inflows and expenses as well as salaries of key personnel. That's how Charity Navigator gets more of the information they use for their ratings. Churches, temples, mosques and other religious organizations--of which the Salvation Army is one--are exempt from having to file tax returns. So, unless these organizations voluntarily report this information themselves (or someone within the organization leaks it), there's no way of knowing what percentage of profits or donations are devoted to program expenses vs. administration and fundraising. 

kswildcat

I'm not saying they don't help troops.  But something stinks when people that previously worked there come out and say how crooked it is. They are either lying or books are being cooked.

When I donate I want to help the cause not make the administrators richer. I'm sure they have done great things. But getting rich in the process makes a crook 

peter4jc

But every charity or organization needs good people to run them.  I have no idea how big WWP is, but suppose it's big enough that they need 250 people to do the behind the scenes marketing, scheduling, clerical.  You know those people have to live and work and get paid; not everything can be done via a volunteer staff.  I/we don't know if 41% spent on administrative costs makes them crooks; it may just take that to make the whole thing work.

This is not to be personal, and as I said I don't know whether they're crooks or not, but suppose you had it on your heart to go and work for WWP... would you, or could you, do it on less than you make driving truck?

kswildcat

I guess I just miss the boat. Just a hick from KS and I guess I don't get $150 hotel rooms to train staff, lavish dinners and all that. I guess I'm more of a hop on my bike for a poker run type.

If I thought I'd be effective I would. By the time you figure cost of living on the road you would be suprised how little a driver actually makes for what he or she gives up by being away from family and friends.
 
I will just focus my attention to smaller outfits that have much lower overhead.