BBB, CharityWatch and your donations

BBB, CharityWatch and your donations was Originally Posted on September 10, 2012 by lavarock

If you go to BBB.Org, the better Business website and click on non-profits… it is interesting to note that religous organizations almost never qualify. Seems they don’t want to release information about how much money they take in vrs how much gets used and for what.

It makes you wonder.

Groups such as the 700 Club are listed as a non-profit organization. They spend lots on their TV show to get people to donate.

Of those non-profits who qualify, you can see what percentage of their donations go to Administrative costs and fund raising.

For example, Boys Town (Father Flannagans Boys Home) spent 88% on programs, 7% on fund raising and 5% on Administrative costs (like salaries).

Over the years I have seen requests for donations from the Military Order of the Purple heart, whose stated goal is to help Veterans file paperwork and benefits. They have not submitted their information to the BBB and thus calls into question just how much of a charity they are. When you dig deeper, you find this report from CharityWatch: http://www.charitywatch.org/articles/mophsf.html

Speaking of Veteran organizations, you might be interested in this old report: http://www.charitywatch.org/articles/Vets_Charities_Protest_Fs.html

That is not to say that all Vet organizations or church-related charities are bad or dishonest, but it does send up a red flag that before you donate to any organization, you check it out carefully!