50 Worst Charities in America: Tax Records Show Most Profits Go To Solicitors [FULL LIST]
Your donations to charity may be helping more than just those in need. With the help of federal tax filings, a recent study revealed the 50 worst charities in the U.S. based on how much the organizations’ fundraisers pocket vs. how much is actually contributed to their specified causes.
The Center for Investigative Reporting and the St. Petersburg, Fla., paper Tampa Bay Times studied the tax records of 6,000 charities that utilize the services of paid fundraisers, only to uncover that for 50 U.S. charities, an alleged 11 cents or less of each dollar donated went to the actual cause. According to a report from MSN, some of the flamed charities have been cited by the Better Business Bureau for their controversial distribution of profits.
The charities were ranked based on how much they spent on employing for-profit fundraisers used to bring in funds. Researchers behind the claims state that a majority of the groups included on the list utilize telephone solicitation to gather a majority of their profits. Other techniques including mimicking the names of reliable charities and operating under the guise of buzzwords such as “breast cancer” and “children’s cancer" were also found to be common.
The worst-offending charity was “Kids Wish Network,” an organization that claims to work toward “infusing hopes, creating happy memories and improving the quality of life for children having experienced live-altering situations.” The investigation claims tax records from the network, which was originally created in 1997, found that more than $109 million of its $127.8 million in profits was given to solicitors. According to the organization’s website, 100 percent of its profits are donated to the Kids Wish Network’s Guardian Angel Fund.
Top 50 Worst Charities in America:
1. Kids Wish Network — Donations: $127.8 million / Solicitor Profits: $109.8 million
2. Cancer Fund of America — Donations: $98.0 million / Solicitor Profits: $80.4 million
3. Children's Wish Foundation International — Donations: $96.8 million / Solicitor Profits $63.6 million
4. American Breast Cancer Foundation — Donations: $80.8 million / Solicitor Profits:$59.8 million
5. Firefighters Charitable Foundation — Donations: $63.8 million / Solicitor Profits: $54.7 million
6. Breast Cancer Relief Foundation — Donations: $63.9 million / Solicitor Profits: $44.8 million
7. International Union of Police Associations, AFL-CIO — Donations: $57.2 million / Solicitor Profits: $41.4 million
8. National Veterans Service Fund — Donations: $70.2 million / Solicitor Profits: $36.9 million
9. American Association of State Troopers — Donations: $45.0 million / Solicitor Profits: $36.0 million
10. Children's Cancer Fund of America — Donations: $37.5 million / Solicitor Profits: $29.2 million
11. Children's Cancer Recovery Foundation — Donations: $34.7 million / Solicitor Profits: $27.6 million
12. Youth Development Fund — Donations: $29.7 million / Solicitor Profits: $24.5 million
13. Committee For Missing Children — Donations: $26.9 million / Solicitor Profits: $23.8 million
14. Association for Firefighters and Paramedics — Donations:$23.2 million / Solicitor Profits: $20.8 million
15. Project Cure (Bradenton, Fla.) — Donations:$51.5 million / Solicitor Profits: $20.4 million
16. National Caregiving Foundation—Donations: $22.3 million/Solicitor Profits: $18.1 million
17. Operation Lookout National Center for Missing Youth — Donations: $19.6 million/Solicitor Profits: $16.1 million
18. United States Deputy Sheriffs' Association — Donations: $23.1 million/Solicitor Profits: $15.9 million
19. Vietnow National Headquarters — Donations: $18.1 million / Solicitor Profits: $15.9 million
20. Police Protective Fund — Donations: $34.9 million / Solicitor Profits: $14.8 million
21. National Cancer Coalition — Donations $41.5 million / Solicitor Profits: $14.0 million
22. Woman To Woman Breast Cancer Foundation — Donations: $14.5 million / Solicitor Profits: $13.7 million
23. American Foundation For Disabled Children — Donations: $16.4 million / Solicitor Profits: $13.4 million
24. The Veterans Fund — Donations: $15.7 million / Solicitor Profits: $12.9 million
25. Heart Support of America — Donations: $33 million / Solicitor Profits: $11.0 million
26. Veterans Assistance Foundation — Donations: $12.2 million / Solicitor Profits: $11.0 million
27. Children's Charity Fund — Donations: $14.3 million / Solicitor Profits: $10.5 million
28. Wishing Well Foundation USA — Donations: $12.4 million / Solicitor Profits: $9.8 million
29. Defeat Diabetes Foundation — Donations: $13.8 million / Solicitor Profits: $8.3 million
30. Disabled Police Officers of America Inc. — Donations: $10.3 million / Solicitor Profits: $8.1 million
31. National Police Defense Foundation — Donations: $9.9 million / Solicitor Profits: $7.8 million
32. American Association of the Deaf & Blind — Donations: $10.3 million / Solicitor Profits: $7.8 million
33. Reserve Police Officers Association — Donations: $8.7 million / Solicitor Profits: $7.7 million
34. Optimal Medical Foundation — Donations: $7.9 million / Solicitor Profits: $7.6 million
35. Disabled Police and Sheriffs Foundation — Donations: $9.0 million / Solicitor Profits:$7.6 million
36. Disabled Police Officers Counseling Center — Donations:$8.2 million / Solicitor Profits: $6.9 million
37. Children's Leukemia Research Association — Donations: $9.8 million / Solicitor Profits: $6.8 million
38. United Breast Cancer Foundation — Donations: $11.6 million / Solicitor Profits: $6.6 million
39. Shiloh International Ministries—Donations: $8.0 million/Solicitor Profits:$6.2 million
40. Circle of Friends For American Veterans—Donations: $7.8 million/Solicitor Profits: $5.7 million
41. Find the Children—Donations: $7.6 million/ Solicitor Profits: $5.0 million
42. Survivors and Victims Empowered—Donations: $7.7 million/Solicitor Profits: $4.8 million
43. Firefighters Assistance Fund—Donations: $5.6 million/Solicitor Profits: $4.6 million
44. Caring for Our Children Foundation—Donations:$4.7 million /Solicitor Profits: $4.1 million
45. National Narcotic Officers Associations Coalition—Donations: $4.8 million/Solicitor Profits: $4.0 million
46. American Foundation for Children With Aids—Donations:$5.2 million/Solicitor Profits: $3.0 million
47. Our American Veterans—Donations:$2.6 million/Solicitor Profits: $2.3 million
48. Roger Wyburn-Mason & Jack M. Blount Foundation For Eradication of Rheumatoid Disease—Donations: $8.4 million/Solicitor Profits: $1.8 million
49. Firefighters Burn Fund—Donations: $2.0 million/Solicitor Profits: $1.7 million
50. Hope Cancer Fund—Donations: $1.9 million/Solicitor Profits: $1.6 million
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