You’ve undoubtedly seen this image passed around on Facebook during the holiday season, but virtually every claim in the image is false. I’m not sure why someone is presenting the info like this, but let’s dig in.
The American Red Cross
Claim: President and CEO Marsha J. Evans’ Salary for the year was $651,957 Plus expenses
Truth: She resigned as CEO way back in 2005. Their current CEO indeed makes a salary in that range, which amounts to roughly 0.01% of their expenses.
March of Dimes
Claim: It is called the March of Dimes because Only a dime for Every 1 dollar is given to the Needy.
Truth: That’d be a bad name for your charity! They give more than 10% of their income back out, with their efficiency rated at 64.6%.
UNICEF
Claim: CEO Caryl M. Stern receives $1,200,00 per year ($100k Per month) plus all expenses including a ROLLS ROYCE. Less than 5 Cents of your donated dollar goes to the Cause.
Truth: Stern took home a $476,000 base salary in 2013, and UNICEF does not provide any cars to their staff.
GOODWILL
Claim: CEO and owner Mark Curran Profits $2.3 million a year. Goodwill is a Very catchy name for his business. You donate to his business And then he sells the items for PROFIT. He pays nothing For his products and pays his workers minimum wage! Nice Guy. $0.00 goes to Help anyone! Stop giving to this man.
Truth: Mark Curran has never been CEO of Goodwill. That title belongs to Tim Gibbons, who took home $729,000 in 2011. 82% of what they bring in goes toward programs and services for people in need. Read more about this on the Goodwill website.
The Salvation Army
Claim: Commissioner, Todd Bassett Receives a small salary of only $13,000 per year (plus housing) for Managing this $2 billion dollar Organization. 96 percent of donated dollars go To the cause.
Truth: Todd Bassett retired in 2006. Prior to that, he received $132,857 in salary and benefits. 18% of their revenue goes toward expenses.
The American Legion
Claim: National Commander receives a $0.00 zero Salary. Your donations go to help Veterans and their families and youth!
Truth: In 2009, the top officers received compensation of $201,000, $162,000 and $152,000.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars
Claim: National Commander receives A $0.00 zero Salary. Your donations go to To help Veterans and their families and youth!
Truth: Commander Richard Eubank earned $238,221 in 2009, and Richard Freiburghouse (manager of the VFW foundation) earned $75,000 that same year. Roughly 8% of their revenue goes toward expenses.
The Disabled American Veterans
Claim: National Commander receives a $0.00 zero Salary. Your donations go To help Veterans and their families and youth!
Truth: The commander’s salary is unclear in tax documents, though CEO J. Marc Burgess earns roughly $319,000 per year.
The Military Order of Purple Hearts
Claim: National Commander receives a $0.00 zero salary. Your donations go to help Veterans and their families and youth!
Truth: Salaries of their commander is unknown. However, their CFO earned $150,000 in 2009 and they also paid a $40,000 severance to a former executive.
The Vietnam Veterans Association
Claim: National Commander receives A $0.00 zero Salary. Your donations go To help Veterans and their families and youth!
Truth: The “Vietnam Veterans Association” doesn’t exist, though it’s presumed to mean “Vietnam Veterans of America”. In 2009, they paid their president $69,874 and their CFO earned $137,000.
Make a Wish
Claim: For children’s last Wishes. 100% goes to funding trips or Special wishes for a dying child.
Truth: Roughly 73.3% of their revenue goes to programs, not 100%. Administration accounts for 11.3% of their spending, including the $479,676 salary for president David A. Williams in 2013.
St. Jude Research Hospital
Claim: 100% goes towards funding and Helping Children with Cancer who have no insurance and Cannot afford to pay.
Truth: They spend roughly 70% of their budget on programs, with administration costing around 10% and fundraising around 20%.
Ronald McDonald Houses
Claim: All monies go to running The houses for parents who have critically ill Children in the hospital. 100% goes to housing, and feeding The families.
Truth: They are indeed an efficient organization, but they still have costs. In 2013, around 89% of their budget went to programming.
Lions Club International
Claim: 100% of the donations go to help the blind, buy hearing aides, support medical missions around the world. Their latest undertaking is measles vaccinations (only $1.00 per shot).
Truth: Roughly 83% of their budget goes to help the less fortunate, though the measles vaccine part of this statement appears to be accurate.
So…?
The point of this article is not to pick on any charities or to help you decide where to give you money, but to simply offer the truth. For more, check out this article on TruthOrFiction, this article on Skepdic, or this article on Snopes.
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