#4274606 - 06/29/16 07:15 PM
Charity rip-offs
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Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 1,857
marko1231123
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Joined: Apr 2013
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Moderators. if you feel this topic belongs in the PWEC please just transfer it there. http://www.msn.com/en-ie/news/national/h...amp;ocid=AARDHPToday I found out a charity I have donated to in the past Was used by its founder and CEO to finance an extravagant life style for him and his family. This is the second such scandal in Ireland in the space of a year. The first one was unbelievable nearly all the funds raised went on salaries and pension contributions for its senior managers Of late I have become very sceptical of charity's, don't get me wrong I have always donated even when things were bad for me financially. I truly believe helping people is the right thing to do. And will continue to do so. I will be careful who I donate to in future though, The amount of cold calls and people knocking on my door is getting ridiculous Charity's are now using contractors/canvassers to go door to door. But when they do call to me I ask very awkward questions like how much of my donation will actually reach the people who need it etc. They tend to make an excuse and make a hasty exit. What are your thoughts on this is it right that charity's can use contractors or managers can pay them self hundreds of thousands a year.
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#4274612 - 06/29/16 07:24 PM
Re: Charity rip-offs
[Re: marko1231123]
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Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 24,068
oldgrognard
Administrator
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Administrator
Lifer
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 24,068
USA
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Yep, I found a charity and work with them. I mean actually work with them as well as make donations. I guess that's the only way you can be sure.
Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.
Someday your life will flash in front of your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.
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#4274621 - 06/29/16 07:42 PM
Re: Charity rip-offs
[Re: marko1231123]
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Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 5,420
LB4LB
Still lurking about
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Still lurking about
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Detroit Burbs
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Sadly, I have lost all faith in most of the charitable organizations. The Wounded Warrior case, the Susan G. Komen case, etc.. I can tell you from experience the American Cancer Society, Cancer Care.org, etc, are essentially useless to the people they claim to be helping.
Funny thing, I was assigned a patient advocate from the ACS. Her name was Ashonte. After just one useless phone conversation with here she would not return my phone calls or any of my e-mails. So I just gave up on getting help with them. About three months later I started getting several calls daily from something call the Cure Cancer for Kids Charity (showed on caller ID). After a couple of months I decided to answer one of their calls. I say hello, and the lady says, is this Mr. ______? I say yes it is. She then says, boy you sure are a hard person to get a hold of. Then she goes into her pitch about me donating to this children's cancer fund. As she is talking, I recognize the voice. I say, Is this Ashonte from The ACS? She paused for a moment, and says how do you know who I am ? I just hung up on her. Just disgusted beyond belief.
Last edited by LB4LB; 06/29/16 07:44 PM.
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#4274634 - 06/29/16 08:12 PM
Re: Charity rip-offs
[Re: marko1231123]
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 16,082
- Ice
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Philippines / North East UK
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When a big typhoon hit the Philippines a few years ago, it made the news and people all over were keen on donating. First of all, I found it weird that people were concerned all of a sudden; typhoons hit the Philippines every year and one time, the eye of the typhoon actually went over the house we were renting at the time! Obviously, some typhoons are worse than others.... anyway, people were donating left-right-and-center. I didn't.
Flashback a few years ago when I was still living there. Big storm hit the city I lived in.... we get rains all the time and the occasional edges of a big storm, but this one hit us dead on. People living near the coast and rivers needed help. The Philippine government along with a reputable charity organization ended up with three big trucks' worth of goods to give to the city and as they made their way to one of the hardest-hit locations, they were told to stop and wait. They ended up waiting for 2 hours or so as a big celebrity flew in, gave a speech, and so on. All the while, the needy were ignoring the presentation and were begging the people on the trucks to start handing out the goods. The volunteers could not as they were told NOT to give out anything. When the presentation was over, the celebrity and the trucks moved on to two more locations before any of the goods were handed out. Disgusting.
At the same time, my alma mater organized a relief fund to help out those in need. Every cent donated made its way to those in need. No speeches, no drama, just go in and give.
My classmates from high school were present in both instances and can verify that this has happened. After that, I would not give to any charity organization at all. I **WILL** give to a trusted friend when they organize relief funds, but not to charity.
BTW, when big boxes of goods reached the Philippines after that big typhoon that made the news, there were reports of relief goods not being given out yet because they had to be "repackaged" into plastic bags with the name and face of a local politician. Again, disgusting.
So it can be the charity itself that's ripping you off or the people who distribute the goods. Some people totally have no shame.
- Ice
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#4274636 - 06/29/16 08:16 PM
Re: Charity rip-offs
[Re: LB4LB]
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Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 10,343
shan2
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Maryland, USA
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Sadly, I have lost all faith in most of the charitable organizations. The Wounded Warrior case, the Susan G. Komen case, etc.. I can tell you from experience the American Cancer Society, Cancer Care.org, etc, are essentially useless to the people they claim to be helping.
*snip*
I'm not surprised. The only "large" medical charities I personally support are those for the Children's Hospitals and St. Jude's. But you really don't have to look very far at all to see neighbors and friends whose children are in dire need. Giving directly may not give tax write offs, but it can be more effective. (There are some people who just can't be trusted with donated money.)
You're only young once, but you can be immature forever.
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#4274637 - 06/29/16 08:18 PM
Re: Charity rip-offs
[Re: marko1231123]
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Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 19,794
adlabs6
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Tracy Island
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I do donate to organized charity. With some research, it's possible to find those which appear to be most useful toward their purposes. And as Panzer mentions, direct help also works. This can offer it's own challenges, though. LB4LB, sorry to hear of your experiences.
WARNING: This post contains opinions produced in a facility which also occasionally processes fact products.
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#4274672 - 06/29/16 09:36 PM
Re: Charity rip-offs
[Re: marko1231123]
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,712
Dart
Measured in Llamathrusts
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Measured in Llamathrusts
Lifer
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,712
Alabaster, AL USA
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I like the Children's Hospital here in B'ham as a cause.
And then there are the 50-50 organizations I support, namely the Red Cross.
While it's dead simple to show the amount of waste and spending a dollar in advertising to get a dollar ten in donations stuff in the Red Cross, I also remember a Red Cross lady smuggling four packs of cigarettes and two bottles of beer into the Landstuhl hospital in Germany, wrapped in a sweatshirt and sweat pants for me to wear instead of a hospital gown back in '91.
I know that probably half of everything I give will most likely be pissed away, but the other half can be very well spent.
The opinions of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events. More dumb stuff at http://www.darts-page.comFrom Laser: "The forum is the place where combat (real time) flight simulator fans come to play turn based strategy combat."
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#4274678 - 06/29/16 10:13 PM
Re: Charity rip-offs
[Re: marko1231123]
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Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 19,581
Raw Kryptonite
Beat the Kobayashi Maru
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Beat the Kobayashi Maru
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MS
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Agreed on children's hospitals and St Jude. Otherwise, we don't directly and of our own accord. I assume everyone that comes to the door is a scam artist. For many, you can also set up Amazon Smile for a % of your purchases to go to an organization. We do that for animal charities and mix it up a bit over time.
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#4274745 - 06/30/16 03:03 AM
Re: Charity rip-offs
[Re: marko1231123]
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 8,543
Timothy
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Hotshot
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Phoenix - Ft. Carson
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WWP is a scam, stay away from them IMHO. For homelessness in the US, I give to Pacific Garden Mission, they receive no money from the government, but do a lot for the people. Some of the homeless don't like the rules, but honestly, I've faced more rules in the military than they do. They really do help a lot of people. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0D4ddUCd5cI also like Feed the Children, they had some issues in the late 90's, but replaced the entire staff and now it has 90% of the money going to the people. http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3691For mission work I like Voice of the Martyrs, the rating is only a 3 of 4, but that is because the Fund Raising runs about 25%. Now, you might be offended at this number, but the Fund Raising includes a news letter that shares about persecuted Christians (the most persecuted minority in the world and one of the few peoples who are facing extermination in some parts of the world). Christians believe that prayer is important and so the news letter falls under fund raising, but it also brings awareness and encourages other Christians to pray about fell brothers in Christ. I get it if you aren't a Christian and don't get that, but it's a good charity, especially for Christians in Muslim areas in the ME, Pakistan, and Africa. My general rule for charities is that the smaller the charity, the more likely the funds won't be abused. Hard to abuse the funds when you only bring in $100k, whereas a charity with 200 million will be more willing to splurge on wants and such.
Keep Calm and Check CanopyThere are no ex-paratroopers, only ones off jump statusLearn Economics at: http://www.mises.orgCarthago delenda est
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#4275493 - 07/02/16 06:43 PM
Re: Charity rip-offs
[Re: marko1231123]
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 4,585
coasty
Senior Member
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Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 4,585
Asheville, NC, USA
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Boy Scouts is not a charity, and I'm far from wealthy, but that is where most of my support goes. I use my truck and trailer for most camping trips, help kids get uniforms and funds for summer camp and trips, and usually end up funding part of most Eagle projects, buying and hauling mulch and providing tools. I have worked on some Habitat houses, largely because the folks who benefit have a hand in the effort too. Organized and often heavy handed charities don't appeal to me. I do give gladly to the Salvation Army.
Have you seen the Arrow? WWW
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#4276332 - 07/06/16 12:55 AM
Re: Charity rip-offs
[Re: marko1231123]
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 11,752
Vertigo1
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Zeta Aquilae System
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There are watchdog organizations that track charities, for example: charitywatch
"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies." - Groucho Marx
“One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.” -Milton Friedman
Quem Deus vult perdere, prius dementat
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Exodus
by RedOneAlpha. 04/18/24 05:46 PM
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