Save the children
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Yeah, I believe it. The flip side is, when I was talking about joining a charity, so many people here said things like 'you know only 10% of the money helps people ?', and it occurred to me that, inefficient or not, making a donation helps more people than not making one.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
Christian Graus wrote:
inefficient or not, making a donation helps more people than not making one.
Most people who work for almost any given charity do so without payment, but it would be impossible (and a lot more wasteful) to try to maintain a large charity without paid professionals, so I have no problem with helping to pay for them to run the business of the charity effectively.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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... Give it to Christian 'Nuff said.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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So, we donate to save the children. We saw them in a shopping centre, and, while we give a fair bit to World Vision, I was keen for us to support more than one group. So, I offered to give $200 a month, and they asked me which of three areas I wanted it to go. Then they suggested splitting it between all three. I said sure, and next thing I knew, I had to fill in three lots of paperwork. PITA. A few months later, I got an email, telling me that they had noted my desire to stop donating. So, I called and told them I had three accounts and I had closed none. Fast forward to today. I got two tax statements in the mail. I called to ask why I did not get three. The two I got were for two accounts that were never reopened, they had stayed closed. The missing one, the biggest one, probably came in a copy of their magazine, which I'd have thrown out ( as well as having requested them to not send it ). They are sending me another one, and reactivating my two accounts. My question is, all I am trying to do is give them money, how could it be so hard ?
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
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So, we donate to save the children. We saw them in a shopping centre, and, while we give a fair bit to World Vision, I was keen for us to support more than one group. So, I offered to give $200 a month, and they asked me which of three areas I wanted it to go. Then they suggested splitting it between all three. I said sure, and next thing I knew, I had to fill in three lots of paperwork. PITA. A few months later, I got an email, telling me that they had noted my desire to stop donating. So, I called and told them I had three accounts and I had closed none. Fast forward to today. I got two tax statements in the mail. I called to ask why I did not get three. The two I got were for two accounts that were never reopened, they had stayed closed. The missing one, the biggest one, probably came in a copy of their magazine, which I'd have thrown out ( as well as having requested them to not send it ). They are sending me another one, and reactivating my two accounts. My question is, all I am trying to do is give them money, how could it be so hard ?
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
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Christian Graus wrote:
inefficient or not, making a donation helps more people than not making one.
Most people who work for almost any given charity do so without payment, but it would be impossible (and a lot more wasteful) to try to maintain a large charity without paid professionals, so I have no problem with helping to pay for them to run the business of the charity effectively.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
"Oh, Mr.Graus, no less!" "Hey volunteer leave it to our best paid professional!" "Hey 'our best paid professional', make sure he'll get the magazine!" :)
If the Lord God Almighty had consulted me before embarking upon the Creation, I would have recommended something simpler. -- Alfonso the Wise, 13th Century King of Castile.
This is going on my arrogant assumptions. You may have a superb reason why I'm completely wrong. -- Iain Clarke
[My articles] -
Christian Graus wrote:
So, we donate to save the children.
Yes, of course you do. :suss:
Invisible Empire: A New World Order Defined (High Quality 2:14:01)[^] Watch the Fall of the Republic (High Quality 2:24:19)[^] The Truthbox[^]
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So, we donate to save the children. We saw them in a shopping centre, and, while we give a fair bit to World Vision, I was keen for us to support more than one group. So, I offered to give $200 a month, and they asked me which of three areas I wanted it to go. Then they suggested splitting it between all three. I said sure, and next thing I knew, I had to fill in three lots of paperwork. PITA. A few months later, I got an email, telling me that they had noted my desire to stop donating. So, I called and told them I had three accounts and I had closed none. Fast forward to today. I got two tax statements in the mail. I called to ask why I did not get three. The two I got were for two accounts that were never reopened, they had stayed closed. The missing one, the biggest one, probably came in a copy of their magazine, which I'd have thrown out ( as well as having requested them to not send it ). They are sending me another one, and reactivating my two accounts. My question is, all I am trying to do is give them money, how could it be so hard ?
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
Some of the replies here are hilarious - leppie... Anyway, my rule for charities is check the pay for the top execs. I think the leader of the American Red Cross gets something like 500K/year. United Way gets 300K plus expenses - there was a big stink about this. I know it costs $$ to run a charity, but when expenses exceed 10%, it's become a scam. Good to know even a Canadian will give to charity ;), but all of us should be wise about it.
Charlie Gilley You're going to tell me what I want to know, or I'm going to beat you to death in your own house. "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783
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Some of the replies here are hilarious - leppie... Anyway, my rule for charities is check the pay for the top execs. I think the leader of the American Red Cross gets something like 500K/year. United Way gets 300K plus expenses - there was a big stink about this. I know it costs $$ to run a charity, but when expenses exceed 10%, it's become a scam. Good to know even a Canadian will give to charity ;), but all of us should be wise about it.
Charlie Gilley You're going to tell me what I want to know, or I'm going to beat you to death in your own house. "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783
charlieg wrote:
Good to know even a Canadian will give to charity ;) , but all of us should be wise about it.
Christian's a Taswegian, not a Canuck.
Michael Martin Australia "I controlled my laughter and simple said "No,I am very busy,so I can't write any code for you". The moment they heard this all the smiling face turned into a sad looking face and one of them farted. So I had to leave the place as soon as possible." - Mr.Prakash One Fine Saturday. 24/04/2004
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charlieg wrote:
Good to know even a Canadian will give to charity ;) , but all of us should be wise about it.
Christian's a Taswegian, not a Canuck.
Michael Martin Australia "I controlled my laughter and simple said "No,I am very busy,so I can't write any code for you". The moment they heard this all the smiling face turned into a sad looking face and one of them farted. So I had to leave the place as soon as possible." - Mr.Prakash One Fine Saturday. 24/04/2004
Cannuck and I'll thank you very much Master Mick. We are a bit touchy there.
If the post was helpful, please vote, eh! Current activities: Playing Star Craft II. Don't bother me, eh? Now and forever, defiant to the end. What is Multiple Sclerosis[^]?
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I know that there are a lot of so-called charities that are like that... Trick is to find one that isn't and donate to that one!! My choice is Camp Quality (clearly).
I don't have ADHD, I have ADOS... Attention Deficit oooh SHINY!! If you like cars, check out the Booger Mobile blog | If you feel generous - make a donation to Camp Quality!!
_Damian S_ wrote:
I know that there are a lot of so-called charities that are like that... Trick is to find one that isn't and donate to that one!!
Yup. There's an online database showing the percentage of money actually used for charity vs overhead for us charities; do you have something similar to vet where your money goes? IIRC the worst I've seen was about 70% overhead. X|
3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18
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So, we donate to save the children. We saw them in a shopping centre, and, while we give a fair bit to World Vision, I was keen for us to support more than one group. So, I offered to give $200 a month, and they asked me which of three areas I wanted it to go. Then they suggested splitting it between all three. I said sure, and next thing I knew, I had to fill in three lots of paperwork. PITA. A few months later, I got an email, telling me that they had noted my desire to stop donating. So, I called and told them I had three accounts and I had closed none. Fast forward to today. I got two tax statements in the mail. I called to ask why I did not get three. The two I got were for two accounts that were never reopened, they had stayed closed. The missing one, the biggest one, probably came in a copy of their magazine, which I'd have thrown out ( as well as having requested them to not send it ). They are sending me another one, and reactivating my two accounts. My question is, all I am trying to do is give them money, how could it be so hard ?
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
Charities are usually run by volunteers with a passion and no business sense or minimum wage lackeys. Very few have 45k CSR's. My personal opinion, is that if you want money to go to a good cause; deliver it yourself. Your time should be worth so much more than your cash ... although many charities, it seems, would prefer the later.
Need custom software developed? I do custom programming based primarily on MS tools with an emphasis on C# development and consulting. I also do Android Programming as I find it a refreshing break from the MS. "And they, since they Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs" -- Robert Frost
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charlieg wrote:
Good to know even a Canadian will give to charity ;) , but all of us should be wise about it.
Christian's a Taswegian, not a Canuck.
Michael Martin Australia "I controlled my laughter and simple said "No,I am very busy,so I can't write any code for you". The moment they heard this all the smiling face turned into a sad looking face and one of them farted. So I had to leave the place as soon as possible." - Mr.Prakash One Fine Saturday. 24/04/2004
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Some of the replies here are hilarious - leppie... Anyway, my rule for charities is check the pay for the top execs. I think the leader of the American Red Cross gets something like 500K/year. United Way gets 300K plus expenses - there was a big stink about this. I know it costs $$ to run a charity, but when expenses exceed 10%, it's become a scam. Good to know even a Canadian will give to charity ;), but all of us should be wise about it.
Charlie Gilley You're going to tell me what I want to know, or I'm going to beat you to death in your own house. "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783
charlieg wrote:
but when expenses exceed 10%, it's become a scam.
That's far from reality, Charlie. Real world expenses for any organization that provides charitable assistance run closer to 25% to 30%. Much of the work is done with volunteers, but you have to have some paid staff, and you can't expect them to work for peanuts. Office rents, phone and mailing expenses, travel costs - all have risen dramatically over the years. And a lot depends on the fund raising market - in a large community with lots of donors, a small staff can take in far more per person than in a small community. In a small community, or one where the average donations are small, it takes more manpower to collect a sum of donations. For ten years I was a Director of United Way (which is a network of independent organizations, not a national entity, by the way) and watched expenses closely. Despite having only two paid employees, and a donated office, expenses still amounted to 22% to 25% of gross revenues. It's a small, poor community, with wide geographic area and lots of agencies in need of funds. Individual donations tend to be small, but require no less effort to solicit, so the efficiency suffers. But without UW there would be nothing for those in need, so it's still worthwhile to operate despite the low yield. Salaries for the top execs should never reach the levels you mention, and I find them reprehensible. But a range of $80k to $150k is not unreasonable for quality executives with years of experience. For that sort of skill, charities are competing with businesses that pay a whole lot more. It's an unusual type of person who is willing to forego higher pay to help others, but there's a limit to how little they'll settle for.
Will Rogers never met me.
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charlieg wrote:
but when expenses exceed 10%, it's become a scam.
That's far from reality, Charlie. Real world expenses for any organization that provides charitable assistance run closer to 25% to 30%. Much of the work is done with volunteers, but you have to have some paid staff, and you can't expect them to work for peanuts. Office rents, phone and mailing expenses, travel costs - all have risen dramatically over the years. And a lot depends on the fund raising market - in a large community with lots of donors, a small staff can take in far more per person than in a small community. In a small community, or one where the average donations are small, it takes more manpower to collect a sum of donations. For ten years I was a Director of United Way (which is a network of independent organizations, not a national entity, by the way) and watched expenses closely. Despite having only two paid employees, and a donated office, expenses still amounted to 22% to 25% of gross revenues. It's a small, poor community, with wide geographic area and lots of agencies in need of funds. Individual donations tend to be small, but require no less effort to solicit, so the efficiency suffers. But without UW there would be nothing for those in need, so it's still worthwhile to operate despite the low yield. Salaries for the top execs should never reach the levels you mention, and I find them reprehensible. But a range of $80k to $150k is not unreasonable for quality executives with years of experience. For that sort of skill, charities are competing with businesses that pay a whole lot more. It's an unusual type of person who is willing to forego higher pay to help others, but there's a limit to how little they'll settle for.
Will Rogers never met me.
Okay, I admit most of my information comes from the news - YMMV. "CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The board of the United Way of Central Carolinas apologized Tuesday morning to the community for the compensation package given to its president. "We made a serious mistake," Chairman Graham Denton said. In June, financial records revealed the salary and benefits package the board gave to Gloria Pace King in 2007 amounted to $1.2 million. Many residents spoke out, telling the nonprofit they were outraged their hard-earned donations were going to what they called an inflated salary. United Way leaders initially defended the compensation package, but Tuesday, the board voted to fire King, effective September 30." --------------------- There you go - this is just the Carolinas - 1.2 million. This isn't even involving the national leadership. I do not begrudge the worker-bees, let's say anyone below an executive level, from being able to earn a reasonable salary. But the boards that *allow* this to occur are siphoning food out of the mouthes of those who need it the most. I believe that for the more established charities, this is an on-going issue.
Charlie Gilley You're going to tell me what I want to know, or I'm going to beat you to death in your own house. "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783
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Okay, I admit most of my information comes from the news - YMMV. "CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The board of the United Way of Central Carolinas apologized Tuesday morning to the community for the compensation package given to its president. "We made a serious mistake," Chairman Graham Denton said. In June, financial records revealed the salary and benefits package the board gave to Gloria Pace King in 2007 amounted to $1.2 million. Many residents spoke out, telling the nonprofit they were outraged their hard-earned donations were going to what they called an inflated salary. United Way leaders initially defended the compensation package, but Tuesday, the board voted to fire King, effective September 30." --------------------- There you go - this is just the Carolinas - 1.2 million. This isn't even involving the national leadership. I do not begrudge the worker-bees, let's say anyone below an executive level, from being able to earn a reasonable salary. But the boards that *allow* this to occur are siphoning food out of the mouthes of those who need it the most. I believe that for the more established charities, this is an on-going issue.
Charlie Gilley You're going to tell me what I want to know, or I'm going to beat you to death in your own house. "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783
charlieg wrote:
But the boards that *allow* this to occur are siphoning food out of the mouthes of those who need it the most.
I completely agree! And I'm as incensed about it as you when I read about it. But I also have a grudge against the many people who paint the entire organization with the same brush, without doing the research to discover that all United Ways are independent. I was one myself, once, when I discovered that the particular "branch" I gave to at work spent not one dime on any agency in my area - it all was siphoned off to Los Angeles. For years I refused to donate, until I learned a bit about the reality. Then I started doing my homework on every group I considered donating to. That's when I discovered the efficiencies of scale, and the inefficiencies of operating a charity in a small community. Ironically, the need is usually greater in such areas as there are no government agencies helping, and the local donors are less well off and consequently less able to give.
Will Rogers never met me.
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charlieg wrote:
But the boards that *allow* this to occur are siphoning food out of the mouthes of those who need it the most.
I completely agree! And I'm as incensed about it as you when I read about it. But I also have a grudge against the many people who paint the entire organization with the same brush, without doing the research to discover that all United Ways are independent. I was one myself, once, when I discovered that the particular "branch" I gave to at work spent not one dime on any agency in my area - it all was siphoned off to Los Angeles. For years I refused to donate, until I learned a bit about the reality. Then I started doing my homework on every group I considered donating to. That's when I discovered the efficiencies of scale, and the inefficiencies of operating a charity in a small community. Ironically, the need is usually greater in such areas as there are no government agencies helping, and the local donors are less well off and consequently less able to give.
Will Rogers never met me.