Would you donate to charities if you knew only 10% or less is going directly to it?

Answer 1

No.

Answer 2

Absolutely not, Scotty. Beyond being illegal it is certainly not a good use of your money. The standard for charities is 60% to direct services tho some who use mass fundraising and raise millions are more like 40% direct service with 40% fundraising costs and 20% overhead. In the 12 yrs our ministry has been helping ppl in need we have always tried to keep overhead under 25% a standard we adopted from MDA where my husband used to work. Some years we have made it with 18% overhead so 88% was direct servces but there has been an occassional 27% overhead yr. If we ever got to anything like 60% nevermind 90% I'd fire everyone for incompetence starting with me even though we are volunteers. I have been around nonprofits for 20+ yrs and there is absolutely no excuse for a 10/90 ratio. If you really know such a group please call your state cionsumer watchdog agencey which is usually the dept of consumer protection, or someone like Clark Howard www.clarkhoward.comwho likes to blow the whistle on incompetence and fraud.

Answer 3

Not only would I not support a charity that uses only 10% of its income for direct services, but I would also report any such charity to the state attorney general's office, since the organization would be in violation of its 501(c)(3) status - the law that permits an organization to legally collect charitable funds.

If you know of any such organization - and I do not believe you do, by the way, since it would simply be astoundingly stupid for such an organization to think it could get away with this - then you have an obligation to report it.

If you do not know of any such organization, then please be careful about giving a black eye to people who are attempting to do good by spreading rumors.

Answer 4

Of course not. Heck, reputable charities go as high as 80 or 90% to directly helping people out.

Answer 5

No, that is why I hang up on all tele-marketers that call on behalf of some charity because I know that a very small percentage if any is actually going to the charity.

Answer 6

I agree with those who said No. There are so many scams out there, and also cases like this, where only a small amount of your donation goes to the actual cause. It's important to investigate any charitable organization before giving. Here's one place to do that:

http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm

Answer 7

No. That is why I choose my charities very carefully, and review their tax documents before giving.

Answer 8

I'd find one with better stats.

Answer 9

no