• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

The Indian School Donation Scam

Status
Not open for further replies.
B

Bombadil

Banned
My mother is a very charitable woman. For years, whenever she received letters in the mail asking for donations, she was quick to comply.

Today, another letter came from the St. Labre Indian School. This school is run by the Roman Catholic Church. We've been donating money to them for years, as well as to the St. Josephs Indian School.

I decided to look them up online. Evidently, they are a scam operation. The percentage of Native American students who attend the school is very small, but they are still used the represent the school's image.

In the past 4 years, they have obtained 57 million dollars through donations.

But they don't seem to use that money to help the Native Americans at all.

http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/tribe-appeals-ruling-in-suit-against-mission-school-diocese-to/article_d6f135d7-f823-5b5a-b777-447a52212fd6.html

It sucks to know that my mother has sent hundreds of dollars to these organizations over the years.

They prey on kindhearted people.

Does anyone else have experience with these donation letters?
 
A

AMUSIX

Member
I've seen quite a few requests for donations come through my mailbox, but can't say I've given to any. My wife and I donate a decent sum each year to various charities, but not a single one came to us through solicitation. Instead, we went out and found them. I think it's the best way to do it to avoid the scams.
 
B

Bombadil

Banned
AMUSIX said:
I've seen quite a few requests for donations come through my mailbox, but can't say I've given to any. My wife and I donate a decent sum each year to various charities, but not a single one came to us through solicitation. Instead, we went out and found them. I think it's the best way to do it to avoid the scams.
Click to expand...

I agree. But it can be hard to locate the right charities.

I made a thread about donating to cancer research and later changed my mind about one of the organizations (American Cancer Society) when I saw how much money their CEO was making, $600k a year.
 
C

Cyan

Banned
Bombadil said:
I made a thread about donating to cancer research and later changed my mind about one of the organizations (American Cancer Society) when I saw how much money their CEO was making, $600k a year.
Click to expand...

CEO pay is not a good metric to use when deciding where to send your charitable dollars. It's tempting to see a high number and decide the CEO must be a bad person and thus the charity isn't deserving of your dollars, but it doesn't really make sense. Shouldn't a charity hire the best person for the job of running it? And isn't it possible that this will mean paying them a salary commensurate with their ability? As long as CEO salaries are inflated across the entirety of the marketplace, charity CEOs are also going to have high pay compared to rank-and-file workers. That's just how it is.

A slightly better measure is to look at the ratio of program expenses to administrative and marketing expenses, and on this measure the ACS also doesn't look very good.

A far better measure is to look at the actual efficacy of a given donation--what are you getting for your charitable dollar? This is much harder to actually determine than the prior two measures, which is why it's a lot less common, but there are some people doing it. Notably GiveWell, which does excellent work but has a narrow focus, and AidGrade, which is broader in scope though still not particularly wide.
 
T

turbosnail

Banned
Your mother is kindhearted but I don't feel bad about it, for fucks sake if you are going to send hundreds of dollars to something or someone do some research.
 
B

Bombadil

Banned
Cyan said:
CEO pay is not a good metric to use when deciding where to send your charitable dollars. It's tempting to see a high number and decide the CEO must be a bad person and thus the charity isn't deserving of your dollars, but it doesn't really make sense. Shouldn't a charity hire the best person for the job of running it? And isn't it possible that this will mean paying them a salary commensurate with their ability? As long as CEO salaries are inflated across the entirety of the marketplace, charity CEOs are also going to have high pay compared to rank-and-file workers. That's just how it is.

A slightly better measure is to look at the ratio of program expenses to administrative and marketing expenses, and on this measure the ACS also doesn't look very good.

A far better measure is to look at the actual efficacy of a given donation--what are you getting for your charitable dollar? This is much harder to actually determine than the prior two measures, which is why it's a lot less common, but there are some people doing it. Notably GiveWell, which does excellent work but has a narrow focus, and AidGrade, which is broader in scope though still not particularly wide.
Click to expand...

In addition to that I read that ACS gives researchers the opportunity to apply for monetary grants and I disagree with this. I don't want researchers to spend too much of their time figuring out how to convince ACS to fund them. So I am more interested in directly funding research institutes rather than donating via a bureaucratic agency.
 
A

AstroNut325

Member
Bombadil said:
I agree. But it can be hard to locate the right charities.

I made a thread about donating to cancer research and later changed my mind about one of the organizations (American Cancer Society) when I saw how much money their CEO was making, $600k a year.
Click to expand...

Total annual revenue of ACS is almost $900 million! To manage an organization of that caliber and scope you think the head honcho should be earning a working man's wage???
 
P

pwack

Member
Bombadil said:
In addition to that I read that ACS gives researchers the opportunity to apply for monetary grants and I disagree with this. I don't want researchers to spend too much of their time figuring out how to convince ACS to fund them. So I am more interested in directly funding research institutes rather than donating via a bureaucratic agency.
Click to expand...

I have literally no idea what your point is. How is it wrong for ACS to fund individual cancer researchers? It's not like these people aren't going to be applying for grants if ACS isn't around; they need funding.
 
A

AstroNut325

Member
pwack said:
I have literally no idea what your point is. How is it wrong for ACS to fund individual cancer researchers? It's not like these people aren't going to be applying for grants if ACS isn't around; they need funding.
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly. It just sounds like he/she doesn't have to conviction to support the cause. And if he/she does... then their preconceived notion that every little thing is a major issue and makes the charity a waste. No charity is absolutely perfect. We live in the real world. Politics have to played and greasing the skids goes a long way to achieve your overall vision.
 
B

Bombadil

Banned
AstroNut325 said:
Find me ONE charity pulling in close to a billion dollars of revenue that doesn't have scandals or issues.

Even still... forget ACS. There are dozens of other charities that fund cancer research. Why not donate to them?
Click to expand...

I do. Jesus, you're dense. I made a thread about donating.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Madison Indigenous arts leader, activist revealed as white [Madison365]
Drama Cringe 2 3
108
8K
daffyduck replied
Over 1000+ titles coming to DisneyPlus Star (Lists announced)
News
15
4K
Ownage replied
Pediatricians say Florida hurt sick kids to help big GOP donors
38
7K
120v replied
  • Locked
AP: U.S. Interracial couples still face strife 50 years after Loving
4
3K
ModBot replied
  • Locked
CBS: Girl who battled cancer is dismissed for missing school
0
2K
Tripon replied
Top Bottom