We Apologize For Misinformation

by Gary Snyder

A blog called politicalears.com posted an article stating that the Ice Bucket Challenge was a "fraud" because most of the money was being spent on administration and overhead. The unsigned post was picked up widely on social media feeds including Nonprofit Imperative.

We verified the numbers but did not verify the implications as well as the website. There was no contact information. We missed on a number of scores.

The post cites standards by ECFA, the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, a very credible group founded in 1979 that "enhances trust in Christ-centered churches and ministries by establishing and applying Seven Standards of Responsible Stewardship to accredited organizations." However, we did not contact ECFA.

ECFA President Dan Busby, the group’s president, told PolitiFact that his group does not concur with the argument made in the post.

We further did not check the scores of the association with Charity Navigator, for instance, which gave the ALS Association a score of four stars out of four for financial standards and transparency and accountability. The association is "Top Rated" by Charity Watch, is accredited by the Better Business Bureau and is a Guidestar Exchange gold participant.

  

What we did is we propagated some questionable information because we got lazy and sloppy.

For that, we sincerely apologize to the association and all those that may have been hurt as a result.

We must, and will be, held to a higher standard.

We have taken down the original blog.

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: Charity Navigator, Vermont Public Radio, Miami Herald, National Public Radio (NPR), Huffington Post, The Sun News, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Wall Street Journal (Profile, News and Photos), “Betrayal”, (a movie), NBC (on Charity Fraud…TBD), FOX2, ABC Spotlight on the News, WWJ Radio, Marie Claire, Ethics World, Aspen Philanthropy Newsletter, Harvard Business Review, Current Affairs, Charity Navigator, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, St. Petersburg Times, Board Room Insider, USA Today Topics, Accountants News, Newsweek.com, Responsive Philanthropy Magazine, New York Times, Portfolio Magazine, The Virgin Islands Daily News, NANKAI (China) BUSINESS REVIEW, National Religious Broadcasters newsletter, The Charity Governance Blog, American Chronicle, Palm Beach Post, Detroit Free Press, Oakland Press, Nonprofit World, Socially Responsible Business Forum, PNNOnline, Ohio Nonprofit Resources, Nonprofit Good Practice Guide, Nonprofit Startup Guide, Nonprofit Blog, National Coalition of Homeless Newsletter, Finance and Administration Roundtable Newsletter, MichiganNonprofit.com, CORP! Magazine, Crain’s Michigan Nonprofit, ncrp.org, PhilanTopic, Nashville Free Press, Nonprofit Law Blog, Seniors World Chronicle, Carnegie Reporter, Assoc. of Certified Fraud Examiners Examiner, msnbc.com, Worchester (MA) Telegram and Gazette, Carnegie Corporation of America, EO Tax Journal, Wikipedia: Non-profit Organizations; Parent: Wise Austin, Accountants News, Veterans Today, Answers.com, Far-roundtable, #Nonprofit Report, nonprofithelpnews, nonprofit news; National Enquirer, Northwest Herald, The HelpWise Daily, The #Nonprofit Report, Wikipedia (Nonprofit Organization), Answers.com, Nonprofits: On the Brink (2006) Silence: The Impending Threat to the Charitable Sector (2011)