re: #230 HappyWarrior

You know though, I think it’s funny that people are shitting on the Clinton Foundation but at the same time don’t want the government to have involvement in the issues the CF is involved in. I admit it. I’m as a rule skeptical of charities since there’s a lot of corrupt ones out there.

Which is why we have such things as Charity Watch, who can go through all the paperwork and such.

On the Clinton Foundation: Rated A. Spends $88 of every $100 on foundation mission. Spends $2 to raise $100.
charitywatch.org

Compared to, say, Samaritan’s Purse: Rated A-. Spends $77 on every $100 on foundation mission. Spends $15 to raise $100.
charitywatch.org

Or SPCAI (SPCA International not to be confused with the SPCA. SPCAI gets an F rating for only using $8 of every $100 for programmes.

charitywatch.org

While SPCAI is in no way connected to the better known American Society to Prevent Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), it is easy to see how its familiar sounding name might confuse donors into thinking it is somehow affiliated with this or other well-established charities with similar cruelty prevention causes. SPCAI does not run any animal shelters of its own, nor does it claim to, but it does donate funds to other animal charities via its “Shelter of the Week” grants. Donors should be cautioned to not assume, however, that the support SPCAI provides to shelters is substantial. The charity boasts of the impact of these grants on its web site, listing more than seventy shelter grant recipients in 2009, but these grants totaled only $67,000-less than $1,000 per shelter. In contrast, the charity spent $9.5 million of its cash budget on fundraising, including solicitation letters with educational messages meant to raise “animal cruelty awareness.”

In 2009 SPCAI spent $128 to raise each $100 in cash support, ending the year in the red to the tune of $6,684,000. According to the charity’s tax filing of the same year, it purchased $5,196,000 worth of “printing and related services” from its top vendor, Quadriga Art, and $1,143,000 of “database services” from Quadriga’s related company, Brickmill Marketing Services. The charity’s 2009 audit reports that about 99% of the charity’s total debt is owed to Quadriga Art and its related companies.

Similarly, the “Disabled Veterans National Foundation,” not to be confused with the Disabled American Veterans (of which I am a member) was entangled in a scheme to pay vendors and past debts with future donations.