foster parents - is it legitimate

[atforum]

Can somebody confirm if this organisation and site legitimate

http://www.fosterparentsplan.ca/

and are there any similar organisations where i can donate something less like 5-10$ a month. :)

(Well 33$ may not be much for many but for my salary of 400$ a month it is a big thing ..so no bad comments)
thanks

[SkiLLz]

"80% of the donations go to programs benefitting children and families"?

Only 80%? Where does the other 20% go?

[atforum]

"80% of the donations go to programs benefitting children and families"?

Only 80%? Where does the other 20% go?

thats is what raises my suspicion. But I saw their program on CBC ..thats why confused. Acc. to the cbc program the remaining 20% goes todays advt. and other PR stuff

[UrbanPoet]

"80% of the donations go to programs benefitting children and families"?

Only 80%? Where does the other 20% go?

people dont work for free.
offices and stuff dont pop up for free either... neither do websites

[SkiLLz]

people dont work for free.
offices and stuff dont pop up for free either... neither do websites
Thank you for that wonderful lesson on economics, but 20% of all donations is quite a large chunk of change. You think it would cost $1 million for the company to distribute $4 million? That's pretty damn inefficient. And most non-profit organizations have donations that specifically pay for things like their website, so that wouldn't need to come out of the 20%. Advertising is a big thing I guess. Either way, I'd find a place that took less than a 20% cut.

[atforum]

dudes any other recommendations?? My moms b'day is fast approaching and I would like to do something like this for her. Fund someone for a year or two :)

[UrbanPoet]

Thank you for that wonderful lesson on economics, but 20% of all donations is quite a large chunk of change. You think it would cost $1 million for the company to distribute $4 million? That's pretty damn inefficient. And most non-profit organizations have donations that specifically pay for things like their website, so that wouldn't need to come out of the 20%. Advertising is a big thing I guess. Either way, I'd find a place that took less than a 20% cut.

have you ever run a charity before? THOUGHT SO
running a charity isnt as cheap as you think it is.
all the biggest and most successful charities keep way more then 20% of the profits.

[gman]

Thank you for that wonderful lesson on economics, but 20% of all donations is quite a large chunk of change. You think it would cost $1 million for the company to distribute $4 million? That's pretty damn inefficient. And most non-profit organizations have donations that specifically pay for things like their website, so that wouldn't need to come out of the 20%. Advertising is a big thing I guess. Either way, I'd find a place that took less than a 20% cut.

That is what you think. Most charity gives less than 80% to the 'end user'. Most is about 50%. That is why they post 80% because it is a positive message instead of negative.

[SkiLLz]

That is what you think. Most charity gives less than 80% to the 'end user'. Most is about 50%. That is why they post 80% because it is a positive message instead of negative.
You misunderstood. I'm not saying most charities aren't shams.

[chococrazy]

Having worked on my company's charitable donations committee, where we go through proposals from charities requesting money from us.... 20% is at the high end. In fact, it is supposed to be the most that they can spend on admin costs. Do you really want to give your money to someone who is using the maximum?

Section 149.1 of the Income Tax Act requires all charities to spend at least 80 percent of their receipted donations (excluding bequests, endowed donations that cannot be expended for at least 10 years, and gifts from other charities) on charitable activities.

An article to look at:

http://www.bouffordca.com/TStar/TS6.pdf#search=%22charities%20in%20canada%20%22tor onto%20star%22%20waste%22

[gman]

You misunderstood. I'm not saying most charities aren't shams.

If you only donate money to charity which put more than 80% to the end user, there is not many place you can donate especially those who can give you tax receipt.

[SkiLLz]

have you ever run a charity before? THOUGHT SO
running a charity isnt as cheap as you think it is.
all the biggest and most successful charities keep way more then 20% of the profits.
Biggest and most profitable you mean? Like World Vision? Or any of the ones that have the word "Christian" in their name? Paying money to have missionaries convert poor people to christianity.... :rolleyes:

Most famous != best


Edit: See chococrazy's post.

[chococrazy]

Your best bet, if you really want to know what a charity spends its money, is to look at their financial statements. Often they are available from their web site, if not you can call them and ask them for a copy of their latest one.

[Tiberius]

"80% of the donations go to programs benefitting children and families"?

Only 80%? Where does the other 20% go?

I love this comment. Absolutely hilarious!

Why?

Simple.

ALL charities eat up a portion of the money you donate (the expenses to run the charity if it's legit... or extraneous expenses, fees, wages, etc. if they are scammers). 80% getting to the actual cause is actually VERY good!!

The last numbers I remember hearing were that over 50% of charities practically gave nothing to the charity they claimed to help / raise funds for! Maybe 20% of charities give 75+% to the actual cause they claim to represent!!

Do NOT give money to a charity unless you know it is LEGIT! Stick to well known and respected charities only! It sucks that people have to be so careful and that there are so many scammers out there - but that's the reality of it!!

(United Way isn't that bad overall... despite their annoying practices of getting workplaces to pressure people, etc.)

[chococrazy]

The last numbers I remember hearing were that over 50% of charities practically gave nothing to the charity they claimed to help / raise funds for! Maybe 20% of charities give 75+% to the actual cause they claim to represent!!
If that's the case, then they would lose charitable status. I thought they were pretty strict with that (I could be wrong)...

[gman]

If that's the case, then they would lose charitable status. I thought they were pretty strict with that (I could be wrong)...

I don't know where you 20% ceiling limit comes from.

Based on the link (http://www.bouffordca.com/TStar/TS6.pdf#search=%22charities%20in%20canada%20%22tor onto%20star%22%20waste%22) you provided, it says:

Charity watchdog groups suggest a charity should devote at least 60 per cent of its annual expenditure
to good works, leaving the rest for fundraising and administration.

[chococrazy]

The link is from an old newspaper article, I don't know how valid the stats are.

I got this number from various charity sites and I found it on gc.ca:

The quota for charitable organizations
A charitable organization must spend at least 80% of its previous year's receipted donations on its charitable activities or on gifts to "qualified donees".

see
http://www.clwr.org/contact/8c-faqs.php
http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/incilp-pdci.nsf/en/cl00697e.html