Charities

Bunky

Bunky

Detailing Gnosis
I got a solicitation from the Wounded Warriors Project today so I was curious about their financials given the commercials with some country singer.

For the year end Sept 2014, total revenue was $342 Million, spent $84 Million in fundraising, $15 Million on admin expenses, and $148 Million in benefits. The CEO makes $473K and the top 10 employees make over $150K per year.

This is definitely a big business.
 
Bunky said:
I got a solicitation from the Wounded Warriors Project today so I was curious about their financials given the commercials with some country singer.

For the year end Sept 2014, total revenue was $342 Million, spent $84 Million in fundraising, $15 Million on admin expenses, and $148 Million in benefits. The CEO makes $473K and the top 10 employees make over $150K per year.

This is definitely a big business.
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Ck the Red Cross. One of my pet peeves...........

Wish I saw these financials on Wounded Warriors before I donated. Oh well, they got some of it.
 
Al,
I just did the math, that is horrendous money going to run this "Project"... :(
Their spokesman last I heard - Trace Adkins, country singer...

So lets see, they want us to "donate", but they do NOT appear to "donate" some of their paycheck back to the Wounded Warriors, who this was created for in the first place..... :(
Sad indeed...

Is the March of Dimes, really the ultimate profit maker (for others) still ??
Im sick...
DanF
 
A good portion of charities are similar. It's sad, but it's true.

However, seeing as I have personally known people that have received help from the WWP, I would still contemplate donating. Due to how most charities are ran I still find it difficult to donate. I do donate to the USO and also use Amazon Smile to donate a portion of the proceeds to the USO. I used and loved what the USO had to offer us when I had the opportunities to use them in Kuwait and Iraq and used their services daily in Afghanistan. A great group that gives more than the government's own MWR and a great crew of volunteers that work it.

That's off topic, but I like the USO. :D

On a more related note....

What I think is sad is that our government does such an amazing job (please note the sarcasm there - just pretend you can hear it) taking care of our military and veterans that groups like the Wounded Warrior Project, DAV, USO, Fisher House, and so on even exist.

Alright, alright, I'm off the soapbox now.
 
I personally do not trust the great majority of charities, it's all business . I hate people using someone's misfortune to make $, especially the Pink Ribbon and their Pinkwashing.
 
A local radio station that relies on donations does regular fundraising. One component is a car donation program. I looked into it and it looks like the charity gets maybe 50% on the dollar since the company that does this (does it for other charities) deducts expenses to handle it all (picking it up, going to auction). You might as well sell it yourself and give them the money.
 
I prefer giving directly to someone I know. It's awkward the first few times you hand someone a check just to help them out, most are very reluctant to take it. But wife does a nice job talking to them and explaining that we donate to people not to corporate charities. My favorite one the wife does with her mom and sisters every year is pick out a acquaintance they know of that's in real hard times for one reason or another and basically donate their whole Christmas buy bunch gifts for the kids and parent or parents and give them a check to either get more gifts or help with the bills. Nothing feels better than seeing the person you are helping and knowing 100% is going to them.
 
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Bunky said:
A local radio station that relies on donations does regular fundraising. One component is a car donation program. I looked into it and it looks like the charity gets maybe 50% on the dollar since the company that does this (does it for other charities) deducts expenses to handle it all (picking it up, going to auction). You might as well sell it yourself and give them the money.
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Yup,my thoughts exactly, if they want to charge and itemize all these expenses... is it really a charity and are they really doing it out of good will? IMO the meaning of Charity has changed and the term is mostly used to lure people/$ in .

I have a co worker who does part time real estate and she's partnered with promoting the wounded warriors deal, when i asked her how it worked she pretty much said the she doesn't donate anything off her profits and just uses that as a marketing strategy . I guess her company may make some donations here and there, but the way she explained it to me it just seems like it's all about using the name to gain clients for the most part.
 
One the local ones I heard about last year was road races. They hold a road race (3k,4k,5k) that charges 20-30$ to enter the race saying the proceeds go to charity. Well come to find out one the guys who runs 5-6 local races for "charity" that's his only job and he makes 200K-300K a year from it as his salary. Most the people working the race are volunteers only pays a small permit fee and for a few police details for the whole thing and 20% to charity rest for himself.
 
Yea, WW won't be getting my money anytime soon. Personally when I do make serious money, I'll find families that need it an cut them a check anonymously and DIRECTLY. 1$ to 5000 people won't do much but 5000$ to a family will do alot. I'm tired of hearing these charities ran as a business, it's disgusting. I'm not much of a believer but people like this are definitely going somewhere dark in the afterlife...
 
For Christmas this year, i'm thinking about getting with a small group of friends, buying and prepping a bunch of small meals and drive downtown to hand them out to the homeless. That'll fulfill me a lot more than buying presents for bratty spoiled nieces and nephews that have it all already. I'd rather see who i am giving to rather than just giving blindly without knowing whose pocket is it going into.
 
I'm a 100 percent disabled veteran and I can tell you I would not donate anything to any of the so called military charities. I get a good disability check from the VA and I get a Social Security check, I live pretty good, not rich, but good. It disturbs me to see guys with signs around their neck saying they are disabled vets. I stop these guys and I have yet to find one that was in the military. The government has a multitude of programs to help vets and there are some good service organizations like the DAV that helps vets deal with getting their just benefits. The DAV uses member contributions. If you want to help contact your senators and congressmen and demand they fix the VA medical system. Veterans are dying waiting for care and the care they do receive is mostly substandard. This is where the Government fails miserably. The VA medical system has been broken and fixed so many times it really needs to be done away with. We need the same access to medical care as the general public. My wife and children get better medical care because they do not have to go to the VA for care, they just pick a good doctor and everything is good! I can only get generic meds unless I can get another doctor to say the newer drugs are better, the VA is cheap. They have what they call a formulary for pharmacy and if it is not on that list you have to fight to get it. I have been waiting 4 months to get a drug not on the formulary. Sorry, now I can get off my soap box and get back to detailing. I donate to the ASPCA. Most of the money actually goes to help animals. The percentage going to salaries is low.
 
I have a co worker who is ex military and he shared the same opinion on Veterans Health Care, poor guy keeps getting the run around and he's trying to get his back taken care of .
 
rlmccarty2000 said:
I'm a 100 percent disabled veteran and I can tell you I would not donate anything to any of the so called military charities. I get a good disability check from the VA and I get a Social Security check, I live pretty good, not rich, but good. It disturbs me to see guys with signs around their neck saying they are disabled vets. I stop these guys and I have yet to find one that was in the military. The government has a multitude of programs to help vets and there are some good service organizations like the DAV that helps vets deal with getting their just benefits. The DAV uses member contributions. If you want to help contact your senators and congressmen and demand they fix the VA medical system. Veterans are dying waiting for care and the care they do receive is mostly substandard. This is where the Government fails miserably. The VA medical system has been broken and fixed so many times it really needs to be done away with. We need the same access to medical care as the general public. My wife and children get better medical care because they do not have to go to the VA for care, they just pick a good doctor and everything is good! I can only get generic meds unless I can get another doctor to say the newer drugs are better, the VA is cheap. They have what they call a formulary for pharmacy and if it is not on that list you have to fight to get it. I have been waiting 4 months to get a drug not on the formulary. Sorry, now I can get off my soap box and get back to detailing. I donate to the ASPCA. Most of the money actually goes to help animals. The percentage going to salaries is low.
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The DAV is a charity, not a government program.

The government, after you have out-processed, offers you a very large amount of nothing in further assistance. You're only hope is to call the VA, etc. and pray that you can get help without waiting for two hours on the phone.

Generic medications have the exact same drug in them as the name brand and a lot of insurance companies (like mine) don't pay for the name brand so I wouldn't really be shocked by that. Insurance companies also will fight you on paying for a drug (I.E. a diabetic co-worker just got pulled off his medication because they stopped paying for it.)
 
trashmanssd said:
One the local ones I heard about last year was road races. They hold a road race (3k,4k,5k) that charges 20-30$ to enter the race saying the proceeds go to charity. Well come to find out one the guys who runs 5-6 local races for "charity" that's his only job and he makes 200K-300K a year from it as his salary. Most the people working the race are volunteers only pays a small permit fee and for a few police details for the whole thing and 20% to charity rest for himself.
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This is disgusting. I don't know how people like that can live with themselves
 
The DAV is considered a service organization by every Vet I know. I didn't say government organization. I believe I mentioned they use members donations. Not sure where the term service comes from except possibly they provide a service to people who were in the service.
 
I typed a response and was about to hit send.

There's been enough drama around here lately so, out of sheer curiosity, I will PM you what I have to say. Well, a modified version.

I will also say that I did misread/misinterpret parts of your previous post. You didn't say it was a government organization, I think I missed the "and" in there.
 
Bunky said:
I got a solicitation from the Wounded Warriors Project today so I was curious about their financials given the commercials with some country singer.

For the year end Sept 2014, total revenue was $342 Million, spent $84 Million in fundraising, $15 Million on admin expenses, and $148 Million in benefits. The CEO makes $473K and the top 10 employees make over $150K per year.

This is definitely a big business.
Click to expand...

that`s why i support Gallant few
 
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