Hi -
You've asked some interesting questions - ones that more people should
ask about charities they're interested in. In the first section of my
answer, I'm going to try to identify the organization you're asking
about. Next, I'm going to answer the second question - "How does an
average person know where donations go?" Then, I'll give you a
complete report on your specific charity -Cancer Fund of America
Support Services.
First, though - a quick answer:
Less than 25% (!)
Let's find out more -
ORGANIZATION IDENTIFICATION
***************************
You said that the only reference you saw was in Alaska. I'm guessing
you may have found the Alaska reference on the list of charitable
organizations registered with the Alaska department of law (pg 25 of
the PDF):
http://www.law.state.ak.us/consumer/pdf/regcharit.pdf
That's the only reference I find to Alaska. It actually lists the
organization as an Arizona corp - "2223 N. 56th st, Mesa AZ (480)
654-4715.
The next registration in the Alaska list is the parent organization -
Cancer Fund of America. The national organization's address is 2901
Breezewood Lane, Knoxville, TN 37921 (865) 938-5281.
Further, the only registered 501(c)3 charity with that name is:
"Cancer Fund of America, inc." While they do fundraising and in-kind
donations in many other places, the actual corporate headquarters is
in Knoxville, TN. Their EIN is 58-1766061 (EINs for exempt
organizations are public information.)
You can visit their organization's website at:
www.cfoa.org
They list their mission statement as:
"To provide support and services to financially indigent patients; to
disseminate information concerning the early detection and prevention
of cancer; to provide commodities, and gifts-in-kind to hospices and
other health care providers; to procure and distribute donated
merchandise to various 501-(c)-(3) non-profit community service
organizations which aid the ill, needy, and infants."
GENERAL INFORMATION ON CHARITIES
********************************
In checking on 501(c)3 exempt organizations, one of the first places
to check is with guidestar - one of the leading exempt organization
databases. You can go to their website, and search for any charity -
they maintain financial information, including copies of exempt
organizations' 990s (the financial report - an information return -
that most 501(c)3s must file each year with the IRS. Guidestar
maintains both summary data and scanned images of the 990s.
Guidestar
www.guidestar.org
You can find Guidestar's report on Cancer Fund of America there by
simply keying in "Cancer Fund of America" into the search box. (When I
copy the direct URL, it redirects to the main guidestar page.)
A copy of their recent 990 is at (you may have to register with
guidestar to see the 990, but it's free to register):
http://documents.guidestar.org/2001/581/766/2001-581766061-1-9.pdf
You can also find a report on most charities at another site:
Charity Navigator
www.charitynavigator.org
Charity Navigator's report on Cancer Fund of America can be found at:
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm/bay/search.summary/orgid/3416.htm
SPECIFIC CHARITY INFORMATION
****************************
As the name would imply, Cancer Fund of America Support Services
concentrates its efforts not on medical research, but on support
services for cancer patients.
One look at the charity navigator site will give you a good idea of
the type of organization Cancer Fund of America appears to be. Your
perception of them as having sophisticated phone banks and
computerized billing seems extremely consistent with what I've found
in their financial reports.
Charity Navigator gives them an extremely poor rating (0 stars), with
good cause. They spend an average of 67 cents of each dollar
collected straight back on fundraising costs. So, if you gave them a
dollar, 67c would go right back into fundraising.
In the last year Charity Navigator has reports, they list a total of
$16 million in expenses. Of that $16 million total, they spent almost
$12 million on fundraising! Only a little less than $4 million went
towards program services (the money that actually provides
goods/services to the ill & needy), and just under a million on
administration. They had an excess of donations over expenses that
year of approx $1.5 million.
Further, the Charity Navigator site shows that while revenue for the
organization is growing (6.5%) their actual program expenses (money
going towards the ill and needy) are dropping (-22.2%) As a trend,
they're taking in more money, but giving out less. And, what they do
give out is often donated in kind (other organizations or individuals
donate things like liquid food, diapers, etc., and Cancer Fund of
America redirects those in-kind donations to hospices and other cancer
patient serving locations.) Large portions of cash donations are used
for further fundraising.
Again, Charity Navigator's report on Cancer Fund of America can be
found at:
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm/bay/search.summary/orgid/3416.htm
Further illustration and corroboration of the image presented by
Charity Navigator is found in the detail of the organization's 990,
filed with the IRS. Again, guidestar holds a scan of the 990 at:
http://documents.guidestar.org/2001/581/766/2001-581766061-1-9.pdf
Charity Navigator listed a total of $12 million in fundraising
expenses; the 990 reveals that the charity paid well over $1 million
each to 4 different telemarketing fundraising contractors, and nearly
$1 million to a fifth company. Those companies are in FL, IN, MI and
NJ.
The 990 lists many other interesting pieces of information about the
organization - the salaries paid to various people, loans made to them
by the organization, etc. But problably the most telling figures are
the amounts spent on fundraising. Your perceptions seem extremely
accurate about this organization - you were wise to check into it
further.
If you have any other questions, or need any further clarifications,
please feel free to ask for a clarification. I hope this has been
helpful to you.
asking-ga |
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