It's the end of the year, and many of us make charitable donations to the causes of interest to us; many are health-related causes. My husband and I donate to charities that relate to both diabetes and Alzheimer's Disease, because our mothers suffered from those diseases. We donate in our moms' memories.
But this year I'm asking some big questions about the organizations we've donating to... in fact, it looks like we'll be making some major changes.
I never would have questioned our giving until my friend Alicia Staley, a health activist and several-time cancer survivor, wrote about the Susan B. Komen Foundation's pursuit of legal action against many small charities that are using "For the Cure" in their titles. Her frustration is that Komen is suing small charities - costing both organizations plenty of money - to make those organizations remove the words "for the cure" from their titles or from their events. That made Alicia question just how much of Komen's money really gets spent on researching breast cancer treatments and cures. By her estimates, only 17% of the money Komen takes in each year does, in fact, get spent on researching a cure for breast cancer.
Her article was triggered by an article in the Wall Street Journal, which focused on the legal fees many charities are incurring as they fight, or fight against, trademarks. Komen isn't the only one. LiveStrong is doing the same thing meaning, once again, that much of your donated money to LiveStrong is spent on legal fees, not cancer research. These large Goliath-like charities go after the smaller, David-like charities because they figure the cost of the legal fees will be far less than what they will lose if donors get mixed up and send their money to the wrong charity.
So - how did these revelations about charities and legal fees make my husband and me question our annual end-of-the-year giving?
I decided to do some real research this year into our chosen charities to see how efficient they are with their money. If I send a dollar to Charity X, how much of my dollar will get spent on research for treatment or better yet, curing Disease X?
And it was a major eye-opener! I studied efficiency ratings, which measure the percentage of donated money that goes toward actually helping patients vs administrative costs like salaries or legal fees or even what they spend to raise money.
My research showed me that two of the organizations we've donated to in the past aren't very efficient. One is the Alzheimer's Association - it turns out they spend a lot of money on administrative costs. Even worse is the American Diabetes Association - which is in the basement as far as efficiency is concerned.
So this year my husband and I will approach our charitable giving very differently, and I invite you to do the same. Learn how to assess your interests and goals against the efficiency of the charities you donate to, and send money to those you know will use most of each dollar you donate to improve patients' experiences.
If you are really feeling generous, and you decide not to donate to a charity you've traditionally sent money to, then write to the charities you decide against to let them know why you aren't sending them money this year. That's an important step, because it will help them realize they need to clean up the way they spend their money.
• Learn more about assessing your interests and choosing the right charities.
• Share your experiences with charitable giving in the Comments section here, too.
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I also don’t buy “special” products that promise to send a donation to a charity. When they charge more for making a product pink than they do for the same item in black, I know they are just using the disease as a marketing ploy. They make more profit (all of the increased cost does not go to the charity) and they get a huge tax deduction for the donation they make from overpriced products.
Better to give directly to a charity than a third party that will benefit more from your overpriced purchase than the charity will and get the tax deduction that rightfully belongs to you, not a third party corporation.
I’ve often felt like I might be the only one who did not support the Komen Foundation even though I knew several who had breast cancer. My reason had nothing to do with their campaign
but with the fact there were so many other types of cancer that received little or no support at all. It seemed that pancreatic cancer was almost unheard of until Professor Randy Pauch gave his inspiring speech and wrote his book. Since that time several well known individuals have also died from that type of cancer and it has suddenly received a great deal of attention at least from the media and public. What about the research into how to do more for those patients?
As the CEO and Founder of a “little” charitable organization, I have often questioned the ethics of “pink” products, and how the money makes it to where it is supposed to go. As a Breast Cancer survivor, I am particularly galled at the blatant marketing in the Pink Community. I literally gag when October rolls around. My organization, founded when I was going through my cancer, has focused on all of the “other” cancers. I’ve often thought that I “missed the Pink Ribbon boat” in terms of focus on my organization and capitalizing on my own disease, but I would not trade one second of the work we’ve done on behalf of our “other” cancer patients.
As far as where the money actually goes, I can sleep at night, though I fret constantly about our $80 overhead bills getting paid, and no less on behalf of my patients who have absolutely nothing! Every single, little, and oh-so-important dollar makes it directly to my patients, leaving me a struggling Mom of kids in college, kids with braces, etc., and no income from the organization, but breathing a sigh of gratitude that I can do the littlest of things to make patients lives a little easier.
As a Patient Navigator, I see the worst of the worst, and the best of the best in people. It’s been quite a ride, but don’t ever call me Pink!