Brooklyn, NY – Tzedakah Organizations Under The Microscope.

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    Brooklyn, NY – A handful of Brooklyn-based charities are concerned more about their own bottom line than they are about those who may have hit rock bottom, according to an independent charity evaluating organization.

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    The group, Charity Navigator, recently released ratings for some 5,000 large charities nationwide.
    Thirty-eight Brooklyn charities made the list, which assigns efficiency ratings from four stars, awarded to the most efficient, to zero stars, to those performing far below industry standards.

    Four Brooklyn charities received zero stars, including: Heritage for the Blind; National Children’s Leukemia Foundation; Yad L’Achim Peyle Israel; and Zichron Shlome Refuah Fund.

    “There’s no need to invest money in a group that isn’t as efficient as possible,” said Sandra Miniutti, vice president of marketing at Charity Navigator, a New Jersey-based group established in 2002. “It is a very competitive marketplace and there are hundreds of charities with the same mission,” she added.
    “Donors should be upset to learn that if they give $100, only $33 of that, for example, is going to a charity’s mission,” she said.

    The stated goal of Zichron Shlome Refuah Fund, located at 1319 51st Street, is to help children and adults stricken with cancer.
    According to Charity Navigator, which uses publicly available information to make its determinations, Zichron Shlome had a total revenue of $976,600 in fiscal year ending December 2005. Meanwhile, it spent $338,667 on program services, and nearly equal that on its own administrative expenses, $311,979. The group’s fundraising expenses totaled $359,003.

    To view all the ratings, and read breakdowns of each charity’s expenditures versus its revenues, go to www.charitynavigator.org [Courier-Life Publications]


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    28 Comments
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    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    9:02 am — I hear, ok:your response makes sense. But there are non-professional tzedakas and professional ones. It’s a function of our golus: there is need for help everywhere, and owing to the fragmentation of our communities,a centralized vaad hatzedakas isn’t ging to happen. So, as a mishpacha with the zchus to give, I still say that it’s good to have oversight agencies looking into the income/outflow relationship of mosdos tzedaka, but a national effort requires time, vigilance,etc. — just as the RIDICULOUS, WASTEFUL, and yet universally accepted minhag of fundraising dinners and journals, which NO ONE has time for and mosdos have to pay for.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    1146 pm

    you can attract good people for under $200,000.00 a year.

    in the yiddish velt most of the tzedukah orgs (the article is not about shuls and mosdos) are managed by whoever founds them. so the scenario is;
    1. somebody decides to raise money for a cause, frequently a disease that they (r’l) have first hand experience with.
    2. they start an organization.
    3. they start raising money.
    4. since they started the org and the org raises money they feel entitled to a large percentage of the money.

    this is how a guy who never made $50,000.00 a year becomes a $200,000.00 head of of a tzedukah org.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    The charity navigator module is slightly flawed. You really have to look at the numbers. For example, A start up charity in it’s first year collects $60,000. The fund raiser who collected it takes half. CN will report the charity as inefficient because 50% of money collected goes to salaries, even though $30K is not really a great salary. Than you have a organization like HASC that has some people making over $200,000 of charity money but if they rake in 20 million a year and three people make $250K each, the charity will get a better rating because only 4% goes to salaries.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    In 2005 the Foundation to Support Animal Protection FSAP) led the top of the list with less than half a cent per dollar going to programs. FSAP is PETA’s shadow. Same address, same phone number, same officers. Between 70 and 90% of Peta grants, go to FSAP. i.e., the money never leaves the building. PETA has transferred about 20% of it’s gross income to FSAP in this manner. How did FSAP get off charity navigators list? They refiled their 990 and simply rewrote all the expenses in the “programs” column. This aside from the 2000 animals a year that PETA kills. and the $35,000 to dispose of the carcasses annualy. See: petakillsanimals.com.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    I just don’t get how you can fault a non-profit mossad for paying a good salary and offering an insurance package to its employees! This is basic kovod habrios, hakoras hatov,and reward for services rendered. Pay him properly, and if the man isn’t delivering, or is not makpid to get our tzedaka funds to their intended target, get rid of him!Just look at how much came in and how much was given out to aniyim. Period. If you don’t like those numbers, I agree: don’t support the organization because it’s not giving out a large enough percentage. That’s called wasting. But insurance! Ample food, clothing and shelter for his family??

    I don’t work in such a place, but we see a lot of shlumpers and schnorrers in our neighborhood, and it’s not such people who are going to head a national tzedaka.
    Raising tzedaka funds, and being a tzedaka mossad which thrives rather than fizzles in a short time, REQUIRES people of talent, energy, and vision.(And, P.S., without offering a good salary and benefits YOU WILL HAVE NO ONE who’s going to stay in such a position for long. Should the askanim of the Aguda do their work for free? Or a pittance? The hanhola and staff of Bikur Cholim?! What a selfish concept! And how unfortunate that so many people feel taken advantage of if the families of people who devote themselves, lev venefesh, to tzedaka/klal work have enough money for tuition and medical needs, and the family is dressed properly!

    dave
    dave
    16 years ago

    every Mosad is running after the same buck. the graphics, and fundrasing techniques are the state of the art.
    ever heard of mergers or consolidations. never will a Mosad do it. they live forever, their goal is now self survival, to cover their overhead.

    fund raiser
    fund raiser
    16 years ago

    too organized is not a good sign.
    overlapping organization, each one with its own overhead.
    for example each Mosed has its own transportation system, some with half empty buses, slowing down traffic, one day it will come to a complete stop.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    as a controller of a $500 million company I don’t make half of what some of the heads of tzedaka organizations make.and that is what is reported. what about all the extras such as health insurance, car, trips etc. etc.
    why do heads of these mosdos warrant salaries of $200k-$300k a year? they aren’t working harder than someone else punching a clock.like everything else in klal yisroel things are way out of control without any accountability.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    dave

    what’s misleading?
    the report is about the efficiency of the org’s administration.

    the report does not say that it is about the work of the volunteers.

    why is that misleading?

    dave
    dave
    16 years ago

    Just to reitirate what one of the commenters said here, it doesn’t sound like the organizations are rated by how much the volunteers work, so the report does sound misleading.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    Nobody is aying that the organizations dont do a lot of good . But if an org spends 70% of every dollar on advertising and fund raising ,even if that is the only way they feel they can raise money ,then they have an obligation to tell that to their donors . There might be some people that feel defrauded if they knew that only 30 cents of their dollar is going to the actual charity . The norm should be 75 to 80 % aNy more ,while maybe necessary ,and people should have the right to know and decide .

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    why is calling for public accountability loshon hora?
    have full disclosure and there will be no loshon hora, because there will be facts.
    maybe the orgs are guilty for causing the loshon hora by being secretive?

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    for all the friends of org administrators that have come to their defense.
    people are interested in the facts.
    the tzedukah orgs should open the books, if there is something to explain make a footnote and explain it.
    but open the books.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    Moishe said…
    I would like to tell all you people that are posting here on this subject that you should all be ashamed of yourselves, I Happen to be a very good friend of the founders of Zichron Shlome and Boine Oilim, to say that the money that they raise with their hard work all year round whether with the parties , dinners and Chinese auctions does not go to the right sources is just plain Loshon Horah, Rechilis..You should all learn a little what the Holy Chafetz Chaim says about these things in his Seforim..
    We should all appreaciate all the good deeds that are done by these organizations..
    And for all these people here blasting them..Remember..Yesh Din Vyesh Dayin..Hashem should help that you should never have to ever have use of these Heilige worthy Organizations
    —-
    So how do you reconcile that with the report?

    Moishe
    Moishe
    16 years ago

    I would like to tell all you people that are posting here on this subject that you should all be ashamed of yourselves, I Happen to be a very good friend of the founders of Zichron Shlome and Boine Oilim, to say that the money that they raise with their hard work all year round whether with the parties , dinners and Chinese auctions does not go to the right sources is just plain Loshon Horah, Rechilis..You should all learn a little what the Holy Chafetz Chaim says about these things in his Seforim..
    We should all appreaciate all the good deeds that are done by these organizations..
    And for all these people here blasting them..Remember..Yesh Din Vyesh Dayin..Hashem should help that you should never have to ever have use of these Heilige worthy Organizations.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    I think the reports on charity navigator don’t tell the whole story. For instance UJA gets a good rating because they give out a high percentage of money raised. But the places they give it to have high adminsitrative costs, tehrefore much less goes to those in need. Or, for example, a yeshiva may consider the Rosh yeshiva’s salary and the salary of his secretary part of the educational budget. But he spends half his time raising funds and the swecretary is doing 90% fundarising. So they really spend much more on fundraising than the records show. The opposite can also be true, the administrator of Peylim Israel may be listed as a fundraiser but really spends his time doing all kinds of mitzvos related to the mission. (i noticed his org. listed as zero stars but we all know that he works as an unpaid Rov of a shul for old and sick people., his sons in law in kolel are probably listed as administrators too. The money is going for good causes just it doesn’t look good on taht web site).

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    I’m sure that the people commenting here have extensive experience in “screaming about” thinkgs. The question is, do they have parallel successful experience in business or communal work?

    I am in no way saying that no organizations have problems. I’m certain that many do. But I’ll bet that most of those have very high ratings from Charity Navigator.

    Financial statements can be misleadung in many ways. Slick accountants know how to bury things. Honest ones usually err on the side of caution, causing the clients to be maligned.

    Anyone involved in the “real world” should check the BBB set of standards for charities. It’s laughable. I know that Charity Navigator has in the past materially misstated “facts.”

    As for advertising: There’s a reason that Coca Cola advertises. And If every dollar of tzedakah advertising results in $1.10 of income, that’s a 10% increase in money available for projects.

    To paraphrase an American author: Those who can, accomplish. Those who can’t, complain.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    How does Ohel Family Services rate?

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    this should be a bigger issue than cell towers hundreds up north.

    we need action in our community.

    let’s show them what a blog can do.

    vos iz neias can do yidden good!!

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    i would not be shocked.
    the shock came from when i became ill and homebound.
    the orgs did very little to help.
    good-old networking (friends went to people they new in wberg, bpark etc) is why my family did not become homeless when i was homebound.
    the orgs are a sham.
    nobody wants to believe it because it might end the fairy tale.
    it is time to end the fairy tale!!
    no more lies!
    donate responsibly.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    if you want to review different charity organizations you can go to http://www.guidestar.org sign up its free to do a basic search, look up some form 990. although there are a lot of great organizations out there youll be shocked to see what salaries some of these guys are taking and thats just there reported salaries they dont tell the whole picture of all there other “perk” benefits such as car exp. health life and auto ins. rent for there office in there basement simchas for there families that seem like fundraisers etc……

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    if the tzudakah orgs want people to donate they must have an open book policy. this would allow everybody to review what an excellent job they are doing. and, people could stop believing untrue stories about tzadakah adminstrators making big bucks off donations.
    if money is actually going to the cause they have nothing to fear.

    dave
    dave
    16 years ago

    fotheringay-good point.

    To all you people who are screaming about the chinese auctions, I’m not sure what your point is. If they take in, let’s say, 100,000 and it costs 60,000. then they have 40,000 that they would not have had before. I don’t see what you have against that. What about all these dinners? Are you against that also? Do you have any idea what it costs to make a dinner? How much do they net from those?

    And to the guy who wants to assur chinese auctions, what are you going to do next, assur the raffles that all the mosdos have? Why isn’t that gambling?

    My biggest problem is the mountains of mail that I get from organizations that I have not given anything to in ten years, yet I get about 3-4 letters from them per year. Multiply that by thousands of other people.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    Lets not jump to conclusion…First of all, there are plenty of Major Jewish (and other) Non-profit organization that allocate as much at 50% of their revenue to fundraising and still manage to provide millions (if not Billions) in provided services. In addition, smaller organizations might look less efficient on paper because fixed costs take a bigger chunk of the money. The bottom line is, get to know the organization before you give…then give generously

    Fotheringay-Phipps
    Fotheringay-Phipps
    16 years ago

    I suspect that part of the problem is that for some organizations – particularly those that involve volunteers – the mission is a non-monetary one. Suppose for example that the only expense the organization has is the salary of one full-time person who recruits volunteers and coordinates their activities. This organization would have a rating of 0% going to the “mission”, but it would be misleading to interpret this as being a scam.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    And this just became news?!

    I have been screaming about this issue for 20 years and nobody gives a rats ))). Maybe something will change now.

    Many organizations not only waste money but do not give to the people that are deserving. Many pushkas are in boroughs to collect money for the “needy” but when it comes to dish out the monies in the communities they collect in people do not recieve anything. THIS IS FACT.

    Chinese auctions is the biggest wasteand the rabanim ought to make the entire thing asur. Chinese auctions have become legalized gambling in the frum community. Nebach.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    Sad sign of the times, but this unfortunately does NOT surprise me. I B”H give money to most of the local organizations, but were we to scrutinize them well, we would stop donating. Just look at the streets of BP, to see how much money was spent on advertisements for the recent chinese auctions/ dinners. And call the Hamodia and ask them how much a full page ad is, and multiply it accordingly. It’s high time this comes to light.