Charitable Donations

Emily Andrews argues in her essay “Why I Don’t Spare “Spare Change”” that it does more harm than good to give money to beggars on the street rather than giving to an organization such as United Way to help the needy, pointing out that “one cannot be certain that one is giving to a needy individual” and that by giving to a charitable organization “ones money is likely to be used wisely.”

Numerous accusations on the mismanagements of volunteers and donated funds didn't end with 9/11, but escalated following Hurricane’s Katrina and Rita. When the overwhelming numbers of donations specifically received for the relief efforts of 9/11, the executives made the wrong choice by going against donator’s wishes of how to use those funds. Also, the ARC didn’t update their donation system and was once again bogged down by the overpowering donations that poured in for Hurricane’s Katrina and Rita. On top of all that the ARC failed to get a grip on the financial disasters at its local chapters - unscreened volunteers walked away with ATM cards loaded with donated funds and some manager’s padded their own bank accounts with fundraiser donations (Holguin). For an organization that is supposed to help the country in disaster relief, the ARC has added monetary complications as the icing on the cake.

When Christmas comes around, it’s time for all the different types of charities to come out. The Salvation Army is one of them; they are out everywhere looking for people to give money. When they are ringing the bell, people do not ask what does this support. They are instantly digging in their pockets, wallets, and purses to find loose change. When they find coins or dollar bills, they just put them in the red bucket and keep on walking. Why do people do this? People should research charities before giving because the money may not be spent on what the charity says, may not reach the people in need, or could just go to waste.

It can’t be disputed that since its inception, the Red Cross has had a lasting impact on the overall well-being of American citizens, instilling confidence in them that if a disaster does strike in their lives, the Red Cross is there to ease the pain a bit. However, much like any other organization, the Red Cross has had its fair share of flaws and mishaps. A crucial mistake in the business world may result in a substantial loss of money or even a sentence to prison. Unfortunately for the Red Cross, everything they do and participate in deals with the lives of everyday individuals. As a result, if their jobs aren’t done correctly or mistakes are being made, it could put the lives of thousands at risk and therefore jeopardize their institution. Some may argue that in several instances, there has been mistakes made that have directly and negatively impacted the lives of Americans. An

In the scenario given, “Bob” served in many positions within a nonprofit over a three year period of time and he stole $93,000 in a variety of ways. In a small nonprofit this might be a large percentage of their operating expenses. It could have an enormous impact on the nonprofit staying in operation as well as those who are served in the community. First we should address what the organization could have done to detect the theft earlier and areas the organization can prevent fraud. Next we will look at implementing safeguards and checks and balances to prevent future occurrences. And Finally, we will address a public relations campaign that will regain the trust of donors and the community.

One example, Children of Sto. Nino Foundation, the Tupas Chapter foundation, and other people from other countries donated money to give financial assistance to people in need.(Doc B) On December 26, 2013, the IFRC issued a revised emergency appeal seeking 8.5 million US dollars to enable the Philippine Red Cross to assist 20,000 families for 16 months. The response to the appeal has been slow, but they have still collected 2.3 million us dollars to assist 1,200 families.(Doc A) An organization from Cebu, named Bangon, donated tons and tons of pounds of food to people in the Philippines.(Doc B) The reason the organization knew to donate food because they heard about the earthquake, and people in the Philippines seeked help from other countries. It’s crazy how these people who are going through such a hard time are getting out and gathering so many supplies. There getting help from others and and then they’re putting those goods to good for

Fraud is a problem that nonprofits must be prepared to prevent within their financial departments. Embezzlements and financial statement fraud can destroy the financial health of a nonprofit organization and undermine the organization’s mission. Skimming is particularly difficult to identify because the money is often taken off incoming funds before the donations are ever annotated or accounted for (Zack & De Armond, 2015). However, these financial woes can be easily avoided. Nonprofit Quarterly identifies the issue of financial fraud as a “people problem” (Zack et al, 2015). Financial departments within corporations are required to follow strict laws and regulations that are not required to be followed by nonprofit organizations. The Sarbanes-Oxley

It might come as a surprise to learn that the government is subsidizing what Robert Reich has called a “plutocratic bias” in the charitable sector at a steep cost to the national treasury. This is in large part because the charitable tax deduction, which serves as the charitable sector’s primary financing mechanism, creates tax incentive structures for donors that are steeply regressive. In 2012, tax subsidies to the charitable sector cost the government more than $50 billion in lost tax revenue. Given the billions of dollars in government subsidies and donations, it seems only reasonable to ask if this sector actually supports “charity” by meeting the needs of the most disadvantaged in our society, which is what we have historically

The leader needs to instill urgency into the workers and volunteers of the ARC. Taking an organization that’s on its knees requires great cooperation, initiative, and willingness to make sacrifices from many people (Kotter, 2011). Based on the case study, the ARC lacks all these characteristics for change to occur. It needs to look how to improve its response times, how to become more efficient in collecting denotations and how to prioritize and quickly distribute the donations it receives in a fair and efficient manner. It needs to hold its leaders to a higher standard that will instill a culture of high moral standard in its employees and volunteers. Once the nation sees a change in the behavior of the ARC they will be more willing to give donations and their time to support disaster relief efforts.

As a nonprofit fundraiser, it is difficult to truly see the mission that your team raises money for every single day. Fundraisers at the American Red Cross are trained as “sales people,” and before this volunteer experience I had never even been on a Red Cross disaster response call. Throughout the duration of the semester, I was able to gain true insight into the core of the organization and mission. This opportunity allowed me to not only enhance my career at the American Red Cross, but gave me a 360-degree view of the entire organization and the fundamentals of the Red Cross mission.

I would love to donate to many different organizations. I would donate $125,000 to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital because they help kids who are sick and need help without charging their families. St. Jude’s does so much for people without billing them, and they have to rely on donations to support themselves. What they do for children and their families is so amazing, they deserve help, too. St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital takes care of kid, and they do everything they can to get them better, and their families don’t have to pay a penny for all the help that they have been given, so donating money to St. Jude’s would really help them.

The Charity Organization Society was based in the scientific movement of organizations. Workers believed that charity work needed more definition and organization and that charity should be focused more on individual need rather than as a whole population. Focusing on individual need was intended to improve relief operations while making resources more efficient. They also intended to eliminate public outdoor relief. With the promotion of more organization and efficiency the new Charity Organization Societies were born. Trattner states that these new requirements for organization and efficiency spread so “rapidly that within 6 years 25 cities had such organizations and by the turn of the century there were some 138 of them in

Self-interested and ambitiously rational actors within United Way who use money for their personal luxury, rather than fulfilling the promise of global community improvement.

The economic crisis of 2008 diminished many nonprofit revenues as less households provided philanthropic giving coupled with sparse funding from state and local agencies. During this economic turmoil, many people endured job loss, business failures, and home foreclosures. This unprecedented hardship created more need for the assistance of nonprofits. Because many nonprofits have different interest, creating partnerships and collaboration with other organization is quite a feat. Fortunately, the Coastal Community Foundation created a channel for donors to pool money together to donate to local nonprofits in the Coastal Bend area. Through the foundation’s Coastal Bend Day of Giving, donors contribute money during the one-day, internet-based

Charity: “An organization set up to provide help and raise money for those in need”