How to pick a charity...make sure cost of fundraising is low
From Sunday, December 22, 2002
The New York Times points readers to a site that rates various charities based on what their cost of fundraising (should be less than 35%) or how much of a reserve they have...that is how much they need the money, which doesn't make sense completely since a well run organization will have built up its reserves to weather an economic downturn and should not be penalized for that although it is good for donors to be aware of that.
Baby boomers aren't the most generous generation, but they're not bad. Statistics from Independent Sector, an association of nonprofit groups in Washington, show that people aged 40 to 49 gave, on average, $1,827 in 2000, the most recent numbers available. That's a bit more than the amount from younger age groups, but not as much as from 50- to 64-year-olds, a mix of boomers and people who were born just before and during World War II. They gave $1,912, on average.
But boomers are also pressed for time, or at least we complain that we are. So we often give without checking to see if the charity is worthy of our money. Luckily, there are organizations that do the research for us, and the one I found easiest to use is the Charity Rating Guide and Watchdog Report from the American Institute of Philanthropy in Chicago (www.charitywatch.org; 773 529-2300).