Cancer charity fraud

#1
Freak

Freak

VolNation's Grand Poobah
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#1
This is unreal

Instead, the FTC said today that the majority of funds went to several charity executives who lined their own pockets and spent donations on cars, vacations, college tuition, gym memberships, Jet Ski outings and dating site memberships. The FTC said that some also allegedly used charity credit cards at Hooters restaurant and to buy lingerie at Victoria's Secret stores.

"Some charities use donations to send children with cancer to Disney World," said South Carolina Secretary of State Mark Hammond. "In this case, the Children's Cancer Fund of America used donations to send themselves to Disney World."
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Four Cancer Charities Accused of Pocketing $187M in Donations - ABC News
 
#2
#2
Sign me up where I can get $180 million and only have to pay $200k restitution and not be able to organize charities in the future. People like this are scum of the Earth. Put them under the jail.
 
#5
#5
It's a major reason I'm very careful donating money. I worked for The March of Dimes years ago and they aren't much different.
 
#6
#6
And when you get a call to buy tickets to a concert to help families of firefighters and police officers just know that the majority of that money never gets to the families.
 
#7
#7
Never blindly give your money away...it blows my mind that people think this type of thing doesn't happen everywhere. If you want to see good in the world you should be a part of it. Volunteer or dedicate your career to helping people, etc..
 
#8
#8
The local media is really dropping the ball on this. Cancer Fund of America was in the news about 20 years ago doing the exact same thing. The local media seems to only regurgitate the national story instead of researching their own files and giving more information.
 
#9
#9
Yep....several of his "charities" were on a known list of bad charities....and had been for years. Why this was allowed to carry on for so long is beyond me.
 
#10
#10
I watched a special about charities on TV a couple of years ago. Out of all the big ones there was only a couple where the majority of the money went to the cause. Most of the funds were misused, but I can't remember what they were. It has stopped me from giving at these stores. I know here in Georgia they've had several issues with the salvation army folks taking their bucket of money and leaving. I give to church, because I know how ours uses it like they should, and donate out of my check to united way and that's it. If me and my wife knows someone in need around us, we try our best to help on our own.
 
#12
#12
I hope St. Jude is a good one. I've gave a lot of money to them over the years.
 
#14
#14
wilrob75 said:
Never blindly give your money away...it blows my mind that people think this type of thing doesn't happen everywhere. If you want to see good in the world you should be a part of it. Volunteer or dedicate your career to helping people, etc..
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I wish the taxpayer felt the same way.. They are getting robbed in taxes and rarely demands tax cuts...
 
#21
#21
No different than state and federal governments. They commit these frauds with much higher price tags.
 
#23
#23
My family used to give to KARM, but when it was released that the CEO makes $230,000+/year, we stopped. Still donate clothes and food but that's it. KARM also puts out really nice literature and I bet a good portion of the money that people give goes to that, too.
 
#24
#24
VolFan32 said:
My family used to give to KARM, but when it was released that the CEO makes $230,000+/year, we stopped. Still donate clothes and food but that's it. KARM also puts out really nice literature and I bet a good portion of the money that people give goes to that, too.
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That actually not much for most.. Most CEO non profits are making 500k or more
 
#25
#25
VolFan32 said:
My family used to give to KARM, but when it was released that the CEO makes $230,000+/year, we stopped. Still donate clothes and food but that's it. KARM also puts out really nice literature and I bet a good portion of the money that people give goes to that, too.
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A lot of "legit" charities use creative accounting. The "efficient" ones spend a lot on their Program Services and not much on Fundraising. So instead of printing brochures for fundraising, they'll print brochures full of useful information about their cause, and conveniently have the address so you can mail in a donation - probably a self addressed return envelope too. They do the same thing with employee costs. The Executive Directors will typically spend the majority of their time fundraising, but they'll say they're spending all of their time running the program and educating. Cancer Fund was just too far over the top to get away with it.

There are some that are well run and efficient. I don't think the Salvation Army enriches their top executives as much as you'd expect considering how big they are. The local leadership is certainly not in it for the salaries.

In the early 1990s William Aramony was the CEO of the United Way (google him). He was running a scam and was convicted of fraud. The local United Way chapter then acted like they were totally independent and tried to distance the local United Way of Greater Knoxville from the national organization that they were joined at the hip with. I hated the way they'd be in bed with local business leaders and shake down employees every year with their pledge cards. I was lucky that I worked in a couple of places that stood up to them and wouldn't allow them to apply their high pressure tactics to the employees.

The Love Kitchen has been a very good charity. I hope that with Ellen Turner's passing and Helen Ashe in her middle 80s that their outstanding work carries on for years to come.

Unfortunately it takes money for just about any organization to be effective. The Boys and Girls Clubs do a great service... but their Executive Director would be considered highly compensated and rich relative to all but maybe 1% of the population.

I'm sure that Bill Gates' foundation has many highly compensated managers. However, for what that group does, it's worth it.
 
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