Help SBR select a charity for 2008.

[SBR_John]

We have given to the United Way and Unicef. Btw, it seems like what we give is converted into junk mail asking for more.

In 2008 we will sposnor a couple of events to help raise money for a good cause. Maybe even a blow out party in Las Vegas. I hope we can raise $20k+.

If anyone knows of a group that does great work for a good cause please post it. We will pick one and do what we can to help in 08.

[Dark Horse]

I just saw the documentary 'God grew tired of us'. You would have to see it yourself. Nothing I could say would do it justice.

http://www.godgrewtiredofus.com

From here the 'take action' link takes you to a way to help. Based on the movie I would recommend the John Dau Sudan Foundation.

[Max Kim]

Since we are in the season, I say we give to the children in need. It's always beneficial to help kids have a good childhood. Save the children foundation is a great charity. www.savethechildren.org/

Also www.toysfortots.org is also a good charity for families that can't afford presents for their kids. I am giving a percentage of my income to buy toys for kids in need.

[Illusion]

How about St. Jude Childrens Hosptal? That's who I would donate to.

[Dead Money]

Jimmy V........

Find a cure for cancer and sports related, you can't go wrong.

I actually gave up some cash a couple of weeks ago to them.

They also swear that 100% of your donation actually goes to cancer research.....

[Dead Money]

Very nice gesture by SBR by the way.

[Willie Bee]

Mikee Memorial Foundation -- no mailouts, no paid staff of any kind, no junkets by the board to go fishing...100% of donations wind up in the kids' hands.

[louisvillekid]

They also swear that 100% of your donation actually goes to cancer research.....

i find that had to believe, cause most articles or news specials i've read or watched, say that most money given to charities is used for overhead. your lucky if more than .20 cents of a dollar goes to the cause.

i guess any charity that could claim to give/use at least .75 cents of a dollar donated would be decent.

They somehow have to pay for all those formal dinners were they pat themselves on the back, and the board of directors aren't going to be seen driving 88' Dodge Omni's.

[JC]

John, check out this site, http://www.charitynavigator.org.

I clicked on 4 star charities and narrowed my search. I think this one is quite appropriate:

The Electronic Frontier Foundation

http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=7576

Mission
Founded in 1990, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is the first line of defense when our freedoms in the networked world come under attack. EFF confronts cutting-edge issues defending free speech, privacy, innovation, and consumer rights today. EFF fights for freedom primarily in the courts, bringing and defending lawsuits even when that means taking on the US government or large corporations. By mobilizing more than 50,000 concerned citizens through our Action Center, EFF beats back bad legislation. In addition to advising policymakers, EFF educates the press and public, and supports the development of freedom-enhancing inventions.

[BigBollocks]

I don't think you could go wrong with gambler's anonymous guys. Great organization that helps a lot of people with a pathological addiction...

[BigBollocks]

GA link....http://www.gamblersanonymous.org/

[jjgold]

Anything dealing with kids and sickness is where the money should go

Leukemia, cancer, handicapped children, ect

[HedgeHog]

Agree with Illusion and JJ-- St Judes Childrens Hospital.

[capitalist pig]

Agree with Illusion and JJ-- St Judes Childrens Hospital.

agreed

later

[Doc JS]

I think that, for the most part, people support charities that have somehow impacted their life or at least that's the way I do it.

My wife has multiple sclerosis. So, we support the national Multiple Sclerosis Society.

My father died of a heart attack. So, we support the American Heart Association.

My mom was successfully treated for lung cancer and my wife's brother died of lymphoma. So, we support those two charities, as well.

I can certainly get behind the St. Jude's Children Hospital charity. I'm sure that whatever SBR decides will be an excellent choice!

Good work, John!!

Doc

[Stumpage]

Agree with Capitalist's agreement of HedgeHog.....Any time you can help out the Kids, it's a tremendous idea.

[Sportsgirl]

http://www.bestfriends.org/

22 of Vick's dogs are going here to be cared for and hopefully adopted. This place does phenomenal work in animal rescue.

[robzilla]

Adopt some African or south american kids. We can call em JJGold, Robzilla, Ganch and we can have a contest on which on grows up to be the best.

[BigBollocks]

You really can't go wrong with St. Jude's. That's probably going to be common middle ground for everyone...

[wmublows]

I think that, for the most part, people support charities that have somehow impacted their life or at least that's the way I do it.

My wife has multiple sclerosis. So, we support the national Multiple Sclerosis Society.

My father died of a heart attack. So, we support the American Heart Association.

My mom was successfully treated for lung cancer and my wife's brother died of lymphoma. So, we support those two charities, as well.

I can certainly get behind the St. Jude's Children Hospital charity. I'm sure that whatever SBR decides will be an excellent choice!

Good work, John!!

Doc

Well put doc. My son was diagnosed with leukemia (cancer of the blood) in July. Before then I had no clue what leukemia was. I sure as hell know now and its amazing how many kids actually have it. Needless to say my vote goes to the Leukemia Foundation. Its great that SBR is dontaing, no matter who they decide to donate to. Great work SBR!

[bbyhill]

to the bbyhll gambling fund

[BrentCrude]

How about George Castanza's favorite charity,The Human Fund

There is a little of George Castanza in me that is down on allot of charity giving.I guess I have been around poking my nose and delving into things like administrative costs and such where allot of times the charity spends 80% or more on running itself and gives 20% to the cause they are helping.

At our local supermarket the store allowed a stand to be placed at the exit where you could put your receipt in a box of the charity of your choice and they would get 1% of what was spent.The local youth hockey club got the lions share of the receipts and money and it was found out that the hockey moms arranged a couple road trips and had girls night out living it up on fine hotels,dining,drinks and going to some Chippendale's show.hehe!

That's just one bad example and there are 10000's more but that doesn't mean all charities are bad or do this stuff.I'm Mr.negativity as you all know but if you took bets on charities being good or bad,the over and under would be 80 1/2% bad.

They just ran a story on ABC radio news on the radio saying that a Fargo North Dakota bank gave full time employees a $1000 bonus and part timers a $500 bonus.The hitch was,it had to be given to charity and they had to document it and they encouraged people that grouped together giving their money to show it on video for public relations purposes I suppose.Hmmmm,sure,there are some big wigs that make plenty of $$$$$ that work in a bank that can afford giving to charity but most tellers etc.are borderline poor and it's a shame they were forced to give their bonus to charity.Hell,it costs a fortune to heat a house in Fargo in the winter.They is da poor!

The best volunteer charity organizations I have ever been around are the racing greyhound recovery groups.I have seen women that were veterinarians work for minimum wage as their job for this cause or else vets volunteer after hours for free.They place the dogs in good homes and usually the people getting the dogs spoil them rotten and save them from being gassed or experimented on in labs that kill them.Kids and small dogs and cats get along well with the greyhounds.You not only save the greyhound,you give kids a best friend.The charities usually charge new owners about $100-$150 to get a greyhound because they are given all their shots and are neutered and spayed.They do a background check on the new owners too to make sure they have never abused animals and such or know Mike Vick.hehe!I have nothing but good things to say about these groups and I have had retired greyhounds now for going on 30 years.

I always sound like I'm down on people and I'm not really.I do have a soft spot in my heart for animals and birds though.I litterally gather tons of expired bread and bakery I get free or cheap,buy tons of feed and seed and get free ground apples and vegies to feed the critters at home and at my little cabin.I'm the guy that the stray cat always shows up on his doorstep and I feed them royally.I have a camping van I store in an outside driveway in the winter and put insulation sideboards around it and tons of old blankets and sleeping bags for a cat shelter.hehe!

Every Homer and Bart Simpson need a Santa's Little Helper in their life.hehe!

[bbyhill]

serioulsy anything that is legit helping children because they are the future

[moses millsap]

St Jude's is a beautiful charity.

[WileOut]

I second the Jimmy V foundation.

[robzilla]

The Human Fund...."Money for people"
c/o Robzilla

[ritehook]

The big, well-established charities are in fact businesses. I would include Amer Cancer, Diabetes, Heart, Red Cross etc in this category, probably also St Jude in this category.

They have large administrative staffs, and pay heavy salaries and bonuses to top executives. Red Cross and other such charaties have been caught more than once with various hands in the super-sweet cookie jar.

Fund raising for charities is aslo a big business. Yes, Virginia, there are professional fund raisers who solicit charities, to allow their telemarketing professionals raise big bucks.

The fund raising companies make sure they get the lion's share of the donations, either by taking a big percentage of funds raised, or by charging a flat, heavy fee which is extracted upfront.

A few years ago the environmental charity Greenpeace got sucked into one of these ripoffs. A telemarketing fund raising outfit pulled in hundreds of thousands of dollars, and Greenpeace got ---- ZERO. The upfront fee ate into it all.

You can request from any charity their breakdown (that they must submit to federal authorities) of fees retained for "administration" and what the charity actually gets. Any charity that takes more than 15% for admin should be avoided.

Some states publish a list of charities and what they take upfront. If I can find one I'll link it here.

[ritehook]

I know people who practice "direct giving" at Christmas and other times. They will buy some toys, clothes, food,etc and drive it down to an orphanage in Mexico.

Some biker groups do the same in the US.

[ritehook]

Here's a link to the Amer Inst of Philanthropy, which (SBR-like) rates charities with an A, A-, B etc.

This is a list of their A and B charities, those which take less than 25%(still too high, IMO) to pay staff salaries and bonuses.

http://www.charitywatch.org/toprated.html#healthlike

A quick scan tells me that Red Cross, Amer Cancer, St Jude and the other biggies, do not make the A list. Nor the B.

[BEANTOWNJIM]

WHATS THE MATTER WITH YOU GUYS THERE IS ONLY ONE THAT REALLY CARES AND DOESNT SPEND ALL THERE MONEY ON PEOPLE WORKING FOR THEM

WWW.JIMMYFUND.ORG THAT IT FELLAS HELP KIDS WITH CANCER

[HedgeHog]

Good to check on administrative fees, but don't rule out charities because they have them. More important is how much goes to the actual charity and how that $$$ is used. That said, I believe I read that 85 cents of every dollar given to St Jude goes to care and research.

[ritehook]

Correction: I do see the American Red Cross on the approved list.

I would not put them on it. The top execs get really fat salaries, and the regional execs do also, and have exhibited a pattern of corruption

[ritehook]

Good to check on administrative fees, but don't rule out charities because they have them.* More important is how much goes to the actual charity and how that $$$ is used.* That said, I believe I read that 85 cents of every dollar given to St Jude goes to care and research.

Request their annual report to verify.

All charities have admin fees, but many are excessive. St Jude did not make the A or B list.

All charities have heartstring-pulling names and storylines, but all the big, high-profile ones are businesses. They may not issue annual "profit and loss reports" but the high-powered folk who work there, the professionals who create their ads and do their public relations, do not work for free.

It's a job,it's a business. While the Philanthropy Inst thinks that 25% is a cutoff for "fair," I'd still say 15%. St Jude doesn't appear to be even in the 25% category, tho.

I once worked, as a callow youth, for a charitable fund-raising outfit. As a phone solicitor - there are tried and true techniques for pulling at the heartstrings and jerking the tears of potential donors---- and I got a commission of every buck I extracted.

Same as with the St Jude, Amer Cancer, etc fund-raisers.

[MrX]

The Doit Foundation is a charity helping Costa Ricans with disabilities by providing free wheelchairs. When my wife and I were down there last year, we spent a day helping assemble the wheelchairs in San Jose.

They seem to be a very efficiently run charity providing an important service (imagine being disabled in Central America with no wheelchair). I'm sure they'd appreciate even a small donation.

[ritehook]

WHATS THE MATTER WITH YOU GUYS THERE IS ONLY ONE THAT REALLY CARES AND DOESNT SPEND ALL THERE MONEY ON PEOPLE WORKING FOR THEM

WWW.JIMMYFUND.ORG THAT IT FELLAS HELP KIDS WITH CANCER

Well, Beantown,according to the AIP, we really don't know. The Jimmy Fund declines to provide a full report, tho other similar charities gladly do so. Here is what the AIP wrote about the Jimmy Fund a few months ago:


Early this year Dana-Farber Cancer Institute launched a $1 billion fundraising campaign, according to the charity, the largest in its history. Yet this charity, which includes the Jimmy Fund, has not presented its audited financial statements in a form that would allow AIP to issue it a rating. According to Mary Rebecca Mix, Dana-Farber’s Manager of Regulatory Affairs, it has no plans to do so. She told AIP last September that GAAP (generally accepted accounting principals) does not require them to break out their functional expenses in their audit. Other hospitals that AIP rates, such as City of Hope, do include this information in their audits. AIP awarded Dana-Farber a “?” rating for having an incomplete description of its functional expenses in its most recent (fiscal 2005) audited financial statements and its unwillingness to offer additional information.

This is America, you have to "handicap" even the charities.