Again, their are many wonderful charity programs. I'd actually love to have you add a comment to this post to share insights on programs you support. I personally support too many to list, plus this would take away from the message I'm trying to share, which is "think before you donate".
While I do donate and support many charity programs, two that are at the top of my list are Doctors without Borders and Operation Homefront. Both have an excellent track record of getting the highest percentage of dollars donated applied to their mission statement.
For Operation Homefront, 96% of the donation $$$ are used towards programs that fit with their mission. Only 4% is used for overhead (e.g. rent, PR, salaries, administrative activities, etc.). This is an amazing ratio as many non-profits have overhead rates that consume 25-50% of funds donated. Don't forget their mission is to help military families that need assistance, the same military families that sacrifice to help protect us (and fight to help others defend or gain their freedoms throughout the world). Not every military family is qualified for assistance by Operation Homefront (their focus is on enlisted ranks with minimal salaries, young military families where they may be located in an area without family assistance).
I also want to give a final plug, if you are interested in winning a prize through the Quilter's Christmas Party, which 100% of the funds donated will go directly to Operation Homefront, you have until December 13th to make a donation. For insights on many of the prizes, but not all, as well as info on how to donate (aka buy raffle tickets) click here. While the party may be over, there are still a few days left for you to buy raffle tickets (donations to Operation Homefront) to win prizes.
SewCalGal wishes to thank the following Sponsors that have generously donated prizes for the Quilter's Christmas Party:
ASF/Lightware Solutions/The Reading Light (Beam N Read), Kelly Jackson of I Have A Notion (IHAN), Island Batik, Martingale, American & Efird LLC, SewEZI Quilting, Lark Crafts, Cozy Quilt Designs, Craftsy, Judy Chain of Sew Fun Quilts, New Leaf Stitches, Rebecca Goldsmith of Piece O' Cake Designs, Fabric.com, Ebony Love (Love Bug Studios), Lily Patch Quilts and Sizzix.
Below is the email message that I received and their is a good chance you'll receive it, or have already received it. And, you can get more insights on this message from Snopes.com. As noted earlier, their is a good chance you've received this email or will receive it as it seems to be getting shared via email frequently. Do be sure to check snopes for insights on what they've been able to validate on this message. I also hope you don't forward such emails, but I also hope believe it is important to think and know what any charity program, that you are looking at making a donation to, to understand what percentage of the donation makes it to support their mission vs used as overhead.
In addition to using Snopes.com to validate such emails, when you want to learn more about various non-profits, you may also want to visit GuideStar, which works closely with non-profits to gather information, validate the information and rate the overall quality of the organization with respect to their ability to efficiently utilize donations to their respective Mission.
In addition to using Snopes.com to validate such emails, when you want to learn more about various non-profits, you may also want to visit GuideStar, which works closely with non-profits to gather information, validate the information and rate the overall quality of the organization with respect to their ability to efficiently utilize donations to their respective Mission.
THINK
BEFORE YOU DONATE
SOMETHING
TO THINK ABOUT BEFORE YOU MAKE CONTRIBUTIONS:
As
you open your pockets to do a good thing and make yourself feel good, please
keep the following facts in mind:
The
American Red Cross
President and CEO Marsha J. Evans'
salary
for the year was $651,957 plus expenses
|
MARCH
OF DIMES
It is called the March of Dimes because
only
a dime for every 1 dollar is given to the needy.
|
The
United Way
President Brian Gallagher
receives
a $375,000 base salary along with numerous expense benefits.
|
UNICEF
CEO Caryl M. Stern receives
$1,200,000
per year (100k permonth) plus all expenses including a ROLLS ROYCE.
Less
than 5 cents of your donated dollar goes to the cause.
|
GOODWILL
CEO
and owner Mark Curran profits $2.3 million a year.
Goodwill is a very catchy name for his business.
You
donate to his business and then he sells the items for PROFIT.
He pays nothing for his products and pays his workers minimum wage! Nice Guy. $0.00 goes to help anyone! Stop giving to this man. |
Instead,
give it to ANY OF THE FOLLOWING
GO
"GREEN" AND PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE IT WILL DO SOME GOOD:
The
Salvation Army
Commissioner, Todd Bassett receives a small salary of only
$13,000
per year(plus
housing) for managing this $2 billion dollar organization.
96
percent of donated dollars go to the cause.
|
The
American Legion
National Commander receives a$0.00 zero salary. Your donations go to help Veterans and their families and youth! |
The
Veterans of Foreign Wars
National Commander receives a$0.00 zero salary.
Your
donations go to help Veterans and their families and youth!
|
TheDisabled
American Veterans
National Commander receives a$0.00 zero salary. Your donations go to help Veterans and their families and youth! |
The
Military Order of Purple Hearts
National Commander receives a $0.00 zero salary. Your donations go to help Veterans and their families and youth! |
The
Vietnam Veterans AssociationNational
Commander receives a $0.00
zero salary.
Your
donations go to help Veterans and their families and youth!
|
Make
a Wish:For
children's last wishes.
100%
goes to funding trips or special wishes for a dying child.
|
St.
Jude Research Hospital
100%
goes towards funding and helping Children with Cancer who have no insurance and
can
not afford to pay. |
Ronald
McDonald Houses
All
monies go to running the houses for parents who have critical Children in the
hospital.
100%
goes to housing, and feeding the families.
|
Lions
Club International
100%
OF DONATIONS GO TO HELP THE BLIND,BUY HEARING AIDES, SUPPORT MEDICAL MISSIONS
AROUND THE WORLD. THEIR LATEST UNDERTAKING
IS
MEASLES VACCINATIONS (ONLY $1.00 PER SHOT).
|
Please share this with everyone you can.
17 comments:
Wow SewCalGal...that is sure an eye opener. Thanks for the info....wow.
I had seen some of these notes before, but thank you for posting this....what a difference we can make, by carefully choosing where we will donate!
My donations this year have gone to Special Olympics, the Alameda County Food Bank, Military Service Dogs and two private individuals who were severely injured in separate accidents. And most recently, Operation Homefront.
I prefer to donate locally or to a group recommended by someone I know and trust.
I think the Christmas Party was a great idea -- but perhaps extend it over several days or the 12 days of Christmas. I really enjoyed visiting the different blogs.
Thank you for putting this party together. Operation Homefront is my primary for donations. I always know the money will be put to good use.
If you would like too see the Administration & Fundraising Rate (AFR) on various charities - Operation Homefront is 4.3%, Salvation Army is 0.0%, Goodwill is 7.1%, American Red Cross is 7.3%, March of Dimes is 24.4% most of which are pretty fair compared to say Youth Crime Watch of America at 94.2%
too see more rates go to www.opm.gov/cfc
In recent years we have stopped donating to many of the prominent national 'charities' because of the extravagant high salaries and expense accounts provided to the executive elite. One exception is organizations such as Operation Homefront that focus on our military families who sacrifice so much for all of us. Generally we support local programs where we can see the results of our contributions, and often direct aid to individuals who are in dire circumstances. Personally, I would be happy to support Operation Homefront in future years if you decided to make this an annual tradition!
I thought that the Christmas Party was wonderful, and would definitely attend one in 2013 if you were to put one on. One of the best organizations that I've found is Samaritan's Purse. There are many areas of need that you can specify that your donation goes to, and I believe that every bit of it goes to fill those needs. It's an organization that I trust to do what they say they will.
I have been wise to this since '65 when my younger brother passed and my parents needed the Red Cross to bring my older brother home from the war. My parents had to pay all that money back!!!! There was no donation, no charity. So much for their help, so now I am very cautious as to where my donations go.
I definitely like the idea of doing a charity donation event. I would love to do one again next year. Thanks for organizing this one!
Thanks for your post. I don't often share posts on Facebook but your was definately worth passing on. Merry Christmas.
Thank you for this post. I would like to add AAQI, the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. I think you will find that almost every penny donated or earned through the mini art quilt auctions is spent on Alzheimer's research.
I second Miki's idea for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. Barbara in Maryland
Thanks for the post! What apt timing.
I tell you from first hand that Ronald Mcdonald houses are AMAZING! I don't know what we would have done without them when my daughter has had to have surgeries! They are fantastic! I pop in $ whenever I see a jar!
I don't donate to Salvation Army. It's a church, and not all the funds go where they claim. The house next to my parents has been owned by SA for more than 40 years. Every few years a new family moves in after a total renovation of the house, from doors, to carpet to kitchen cabinets and appliances. Your donations pay for them to have a free home, because they are "ministers" in the local church. They also get free cars. That's not helping a drug adict, or homeless person. Try St. Vincent De Paul society if you want to see most of your donations go to worthy causes.
Thanks for reminding me about snopes.com. But especially for telling me about Operation Homefront. I've just made a very small donation-wish I could do more.
I always learn something new from you!
Thanks for insightful thoughts. It somehow illustrated the saying that there no winners in war, only loosers. The US military spendings on warfare are monstrous, taking away money that could be spent in better ways. On top of this, we give donations to both victims of the war and the veterans.
http://www.visionofearth.org/economics/ending-poverty/how-much-would-it-cost-to-end-extreme-poverty-in-the-world/
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