For-profits Taking Up To 50% or more of Charities' Collections

by Gary Snyder

The for-profit firms that raise money for charities collected $361.3 million from well-meaning Californians in 2013 – and pocketed $161.2 million, or 45.5 percent, of the take, according to the latest figures from the Attorney General’s Office.

That’s better than the year before, when commercial fundraisers kept 63 percent of the money raised in nonprofits’ names.

Thirty-one Orange County charities used commercial fundraisers in 2013, according to the attorney general’s data, and they fared a bit worse than their cohorts statewide. Of the $3.9 million raised on behalf of Orange County charities, commercial fundraisers kept $1.9 million, or about half the take.

The most extreme cases raise far less than the average. According to the data:

• One commercial fundraiser logged $332,000 for Plan International USA, a highly rated charity that operates in 50 developing countries trying to end the cycle of poverty for children. That campaign wound up costingthe charity all that – plus an additional $3.5 million.

• Another for-profit fundraiser drummed up $687,000 for the well-regarded Save the Children Federation. That cost $1.8 million.

• A campaign for Open Doors With Brother Andrew of Santa Ana raised $7,753 – of which the charity got $7.75. Open Doors serves persecuted Christians in more than 60 countries.

• A campaign for Amvets in Anaheim raised $10,158, but wound up costing it $34,367. Amvets runs thrift stores that support, promote and defend the rights of California veterans and their families. (source)




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)