10 reasons to double-think that charity donation

[Professor]

[Mr.Bill]

I have absolutely no idea about any of these claims, nor do I care. Charities are like any other private or public organization, they are only as good as the people who are running it.. In the few years after 9/11 something like 1/2 of the 9/11 charities were bogus..Anyone who gives to any charity without doing some homework 1st is an idiot.

But I think fact checking some of these 'claims' might be a good idea. What was the one claim? 2124 pets were given to PETA, but only 7 found homes?? The rest were killed???? A kid standing on a corner giving away kittens would do better than that. I mean with no kill shelters everywhere, millions of people looking to adopt animals, yet a leading pet charity can only save 7 out of 2000+ animals? Hard to believe.

And the Coke 'claim' is strange too. An obesity 'forum' (WHAT?) accepted money from Coke and that's bad because Coke is a sugary drink? I'm missing that point.

[Professor]

[Mr.Bill]

Your consumer freedom link seems to have a pretty solid 'agenda'.. So I'll take their 'facts' with a grain of salt..If I'm reading your 2nd link correctly(which also seems like they have an axe to grind) the number 7 that the video mentions were pets reclaimed by original owners, over 800 were adopted and did find other homes.. It's hard to follow that 2nd link because I can't tell who is putting these animals down.. PETA, or the humane society, who some of these documents seem to be from.

Again I don't care, especially about a bunch of loons like PETA.

[Professor]

Oh yeah - someone's got an agenda!

My main point was that some charities funnel their money where it's supposed to go, and others don't. There are some sites out there that document this kind of stuff. I can't remember them, but I know I've seen them.

[Fishstyx]

Reason enough to NEVER take PETA seriously! LOL

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/peta-video- ... stComments

They'd have a heart attack watching me ring FL lobster tales. Last bunch I caught, halved the tails and they started twitching when I sprinkled the salt on.....FRESH!

There are some good sites out there that will break down how much of donations actually go toward the intended charity. Some of the worst are some of the most popular.

[jimmyz]

All I could think of while watching that PETA vid was how long its been since I had crab and lobster.

[Aaron]

large Charities by and large should not be contributed to. The money it takes to run them, and subsequently their ability to justify the wages of the "experts" they hire to run them at a supposedly high level, defeats the purpose of the mission.

[exploited]

I don't know about that. Large charities are generally subjected to alot more oversight. For instance, my sister works for the Canadian Cancer Society, which is one of the largest in the country, and they keep administrative costs under 15%, which is what a reputable charity aims for.

And while you're certainly correct that there is a lot of wasted money on staff, there is a need to pay good salaries, at least if you want good talent.

[Aaron]

Good charity talent is diametrically opposed in philosophy to wage competition.