Give, Give, Give Comments

High level staff persons with high level salaries. I know them personally too. American Red Cross: Scandals, yes, most recently post 9-11.(on world news services) It's similar to politics. The caliber of people. Benjamin Franklin said it best, (slightly modified) the mere fact that people with clean hands enter (charities, politics etc) means nothing....... One of the biggest problems is that charities count salaries under administration costs, also A&P (advertising and promotion) . And why do YOU hide your identity? H

Actually, a friend of mine is a high level staff person at World Vision and says they are constantly under pressure to keep admin costs down and get the vast majority of money to where it belongs. There have been scandals at some places, such as the International Red Cross (not at the American Red Cross, however) , but those are the exception, not the rule. I don't know about foreign charities, but U.S. ones are regularly audited. The Washington DC chapter of United Way comes to mind. They've gotten caught at least twice funneling money to questionable things. A far greater problem is how well (or poorly) these charitable groups coordinate with each other.

I guess you never truly know how a charity will spend your money, and every once in awhile there are scandals. But I think most of the charities keep their administrative overhead pretty low and give at least 75% of your contribution directly to those in need. Most of the staffs don't really get paid alot. Auditors track these kinds of things.

This is a sad train of thought. We must learn to trust in others. There are still a few good souls on this Earth who will give without question. Let's hope they multiply. -war