Earlier quoted context omitted.
This pretty much happens all over the globe.
Recently read that fair trade procuder just spend the money in bigger cars and such. Charity.
So pick better charities: http://www.givewell.org/
In Search Of The Red Cross' $500M In Haiti Relief (2015)
31–40 of 182 posts
Re: In Search Of The Red Cross' $500M In Haiti Relief (2015)
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's really incredible. What's more fascinating is their 100% promise [1]: > We send 100% of all donations directly to hire local workers and buy local materials so you know exactly where your donation is going. Considering their Careers page lists they are hiring a software engineer, I dug a little further and found this info in their FAQ: > How Does New Story Fund Operational Costs With A 100% Promise? > We are c…
That's just bucket A and bucket B right? Like, the money going towards operations is still donated. The page about the operations money even puts it in terms of having 2 bank accounts: https://newstorycharity.org/the-builders/ So fine, they are able to advertise that they are spending 100% of certain funds on programs. But it is just a marketing gimmick, they still have some overall efficiency, just like any other ch…
It means everyone donating knows what their money is going to. If you want 100% of if to go to houses, it will.
Re: In Search Of The Red Cross' $500M In Haiti Relief (2015)
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
Legit question - what's the alternative?
Doctors without a frontier? It's sad though, I think many europeans would like to donate money for people in need, but when you find out things like this ... Americans really managed to ruin this as well.
Mystified as to why you seem to think this is in some way an American problem. We have lots of fake charities in the EU.
Re: In Search Of The Red Cross' $500M In Haiti Relief (2015)
#34It's kind of surprising people still donate to Red Cross, given their extremely poor track record. I suppose they have brand name recognition. South Park had a great jab at them, with all the 9/11 donations being stored away in an Indiana Jones lost ark style warehouse.
IMO, a nice chunk of donations are done so people feel better. "Everyone" likes Red Cross so a donation there is seen as safe so it's the easiest path.
Yeah well they feel like they should feel better because they think they're actually doing something.
Re: In Search Of The Red Cross' $500M In Haiti Relief (2015)
#35It's kind of surprising people still donate to Red Cross, given their extremely poor track record. I suppose they have brand name recognition. South Park had a great jab at them, with all the 9/11 donations being stored away in an Indiana Jones lost ark style warehouse.
I'd say it's sad, but not surprising. People are sheep.
I wouldn't go that far - companies partner with The Red Cross left and right after every major disaster, and the mainstream media downplays the problems with the organization. For the average person, there's no reason to suspect that they'd be misusing/misappropriating funds.
Re: In Search Of The Red Cross' $500M In Haiti Relief (2015)
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's just bucket A and bucket B right? Like, the money going towards operations is still donated. The page about the operations money even puts it in terms of having 2 bank accounts: https://newstorycharity.org/the-builders/ So fine, they are able to advertise that they are spending 100% of certain funds on programs. But it is just a marketing gimmick, they still have some overall efficiency, just like any other ch…
It means everyone donating knows what their money is going to. If you want 100% of if to go to houses, it will.
Exactly, it is about transparency. You get to choose what it is used for and they follow through.
Re: In Search Of The Red Cross' $500M In Haiti Relief (2015)
#37It's astounding how powerful the Red Cross brand is. I'd like to read a study how how much the brand influences donors. For example, try to raise money using identical mechanisms under a different header. Also, I liked this: "I'm not a big mathematician, but I can make some additions. It doesn't add up for me."
Legit question - what's the alternative?
Internationally and to a certain degree domestically in the US, Oxfam, Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) and Save the Children are all efficient charities according to CharityNavigator. There are likely others but these are three solid charities imo.
MSF/Doctors without Borders -> https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summar...
Save the Children -> https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summar...
Oxfam -> https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summar...
Re: In Search Of The Red Cross' $500M In Haiti Relief (2015)
#38Worth re-iterating: The American Red Cross and the International Committee of the Red Cross are independent organizations, with very different reputations.
Care to expand on this?
Edit: Based on the downvotes, I'm guessing I wasn't really clear what I was going for - I hadn't heard about the International Committee before, so I was looking for some more information about how they differ.
Re: In Search Of The Red Cross' $500M In Haiti Relief (2015)
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's really incredible. What's more fascinating is their 100% promise [1]: > We send 100% of all donations directly to hire local workers and buy local materials so you know exactly where your donation is going. Considering their Careers page lists they are hiring a software engineer, I dug a little further and found this info in their FAQ: > How Does New Story Fund Operational Costs With A 100% Promise? > We are c…
That's just bucket A and bucket B right? Like, the money going towards operations is still donated. The page about the operations money even puts it in terms of having 2 bank accounts: https://newstorycharity.org/the-builders/ So fine, they are able to advertise that they are spending 100% of certain funds on programs. But it is just a marketing gimmick, they still have some overall efficiency, just like any other ch…
Not all gimmick it means that people/companies who are donating know that their money is either going towards operational funding or to relief efforts.
Re: In Search Of The Red Cross' $500M In Haiti Relief (2015)
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's really incredible. What's more fascinating is their 100% promise [1]: > We send 100% of all donations directly to hire local workers and buy local materials so you know exactly where your donation is going. Considering their Careers page lists they are hiring a software engineer, I dug a little further and found this info in their FAQ: > How Does New Story Fund Operational Costs With A 100% Promise? > We are c…
That's just bucket A and bucket B right? Like, the money going towards operations is still donated. The page about the operations money even puts it in terms of having 2 bank accounts: https://newstorycharity.org/the-builders/ So fine, they are able to advertise that they are spending 100% of certain funds on programs. But it is just a marketing gimmick, they still have some overall efficiency, just like any other ch…
It means there's more transparency about where the money is going. It's going to be hard to get corporate donations if you have to say to them, "we need X from you to run the business of providing only Y in actual support".
It surely has to help stop bureaucratic creep. You're forced to run lean and efficiently in the administration.