By Gary Snyder
It’s National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Shall we
happy or sad?
If you cannot trust the National Football League and breast
cancer charities whom can you trust? Not plenty of breast cancer charities. A
recent probe into the NFL Breast Cancer Awareness fundraising showed that only
5% of each sale goes to the American Cancer Society and less to cancer research.
Numerous other breast cancer charities have abused their trusted
names for the good of a few.
Cancer Fund of America is a controversial group. Both the
Better Business Bureau and the nonprofit rating agency Charity Navigator have vilified
it for giving less than a penny of every dollar raised to cancer patients.
Charity Navigator once listed the Cancer Fund of America Support Services, as
one of "10 Non-Profits That Make Ebenezer Proud." In a Georgia
Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs document Cancer Fund was accused of
making false and misleading claims in its mail solicitations, allegations that
the Cancer Fund of America ultimately settled for $50,000
Breast Cancer Society (BCS) claims it raised $50 million in
contributions in tax filings but when pressed by Marie Claire magazine the
founder said that it raised just $15 million in cash donations in 2009. The
other $35 million represented his estimate of medications that the BCS accepted
as gifts or bought at a major discount but then listed on its books as having
much higher values. He says he gets the meds from other organizations,
including the Ontario-based Universal Aide Society, which saw its Canadian
charitable status revoked two years ago for malfeasance. In 2009, the leader
collected a $223,276 salary.
The United Cancer Council hired a fundraiser netting only $2
million out of the $28 million
collected.
The Making Memories Breast Cancer Foundation raised $1,159,654.
Just under 12 percent, less than $137,000, went toward granting wishes for
terminally ill breast cancer patients.
The American Cancer Society actually lost money on a program
(in 2010), because the telemarketing firm got to keep 100 percent of the $5.3 million
in funds it raised, plus $113,006 in fees from the society, government filings showed.
No apologies from the agency.
They had more than 20,000 people who helped raise more than
$2 million by participating in the national
breast cancer organization’s, Y-Me, race and walk. Weeks later the
Chicago-based nonprofit, which
operated a nationwide hot line offering counseling to breast cancer patients,
fired its staff, shut
down its website address and closed its doors. A Y-Me volunteer and
founder of the group’s signature fund-raising race, said “incompetence and
mismanagement,” especially under previous leadership, led to Y-Me’s downfall.
The attorney general is investigating.
The National Breast Cancer Foundation was a family affair.
With collections of about $10 million, the founder takes home $200,000, her son
$180,000, her husband and another son all share in the largess at the expense
of those in need. It even endorses misleading
jewelry. About 40% of its revenues were not spent toward its mission.
The Coalition Against Breast Cancer offers virtually nothing
to patients after taking in millions. The Coalition is under investigation by
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. He called the charity a sham.
Charity Navigator ranks The Breast Cancer Relief Foundation
and the John Wayne Cancer Institute with just one star, poorly performing
organizations. United Breast Cancer Foundation, Walker Cancer Research
Institute and the American Breast Cancer Foundation have zero (0) stars.
This still does not include some of the questionable practices
at the flagship breast cancer charity, Susan G. Komen.
It has been estimated that tens of millions of dollars are
taken from those to which it was intended. Fewer than 50% of the Charity
Navigator breast cancer charities have rated high for their commitment to
Accountability and Transparency.
Evidence clearly
indicates that both large and small cancer charity organizations are performing
poorly. These few examples do not exude confidence. Unless there is an
outside intervention, a fall from grace may be imminent.
Watch
out before donating. Make sure that you are confident that the charity that you
donate to is honest. Exercise due diligence:
- · ensure the charity is effectively governed; is it transparent, accountable and fiscally responsible?
- · go to GuideStar, if available; and review the charity’s IRS 990 form; look at other watchdog websites such as Charity Navigator.
- · go to the charity’s website and scrutinize the annual report and try to see if there are conflicts of interest (such as family members on the board);
- · check the financial statements both at GuideStar and at website;
- · examine to see if programs are in sync with organization’s mission;
- · ask if the agency has internal financial controls in place to avoid fraud and misapplication of funds.
Nonprofit Imperative gathers its information principally from public documents...some of which are directly quoted. Virtually all cited are in some phase of criminal proceedings; some have not been charged, however. Cites in various media: Featured in print, broadcast, and online media outlets, including: Vermont Public Radio, Miami Herald, National Public Radio, Huffington Post, The Sun News, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Wall Street Journal (Profile, News and Photos), FOX2, ABC Spotlight on the News, WWJ Radio, Ethics World, Aspen Philanthropy Newsletter, Harvard Business Review, Current Affairs, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, St. Petersburg Times, B, USA Today Topics, Newsweek.com, Responsive Philanthropy Magazine, New York Times...and many more Nonprofits: On the Brink (2006) Silence: The Impending Threat to the Charitable Sector (2011)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment