Tzedakah, Inc.
Supporting More Effective Jewish Giving
Web address:www.just-tzedakah.org

MEMO:

FROM:    Ira Kaminow, President
TO:          Friends of Tzedakah, Inc.
DATE:     December 15, 2006;
RE:          What's new in the world of nonprofits.    

   Best wishes for a very happy Chanukah.

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Click here if you'd like to make a contribution in support of our work

   Chanukah and tzedakah.  The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch writes: "We should increase our charitable contributions during the days of Chanukah because they are specifically appropriate for rectifying the defects of one's soul through charity, and especially by supporting the needy among those who study Torah." Click here to contribute to one or more of scores of Jewish charities through our website

   Wow: really major gifts to Jewish causes.  Super-rich Jewish donors have been criticized for years for neglecting Jewish causes while making major gifts to non-Jewish charities. Now two very wealthy Jews have stepped up to the plate. Ronald P. Stanton pledged $100 million to Yeshiva University>>more>>. Meanwhile, Sheldon Adelson pledged $200 million a year to Jewish and Israeli causes >>more>>.

   What an eye opener: some states publish results of charity solicitations.  The attorney general of North Carolina just published the 2005-2006 Annual Charitable Solicitation Licensing Report. The report includes an itemized list of the results of charitable solicitations undertaken by professional solicitors in the state. A list of results of solicitation campaigns, including gross revenues collected and amount paid to the charity, begins on page 225. The share of gross solicitations going to the sponsoring charities varies greatly from as low as 0% to over 90%. In a number of cases, considerably less than half the amount collected went to the charity  >>more>>. New York State publishes a similar report called Pennies for Charity: Where Your Money Goes, the report covers professional telephone solictors and the most recent is dated 2004. The report finds that almost half of all funds pledged were pledged in campaigns in which the charities received less than 30 percent of the funds raised   >>more>>.   In many cases, but not nearly all, low payments to charities reflect large amounts of uncollected pledges.

   Profile of the nonprofit sector published.  More than a third of all charitable contributions in 2005 were religion related and 15% went for educational purposes. So says the Urban Institute's newly released The Nonprofit Sector in Brief, a short statistical profile of the nonprofit sector. You may be surprised to learn that 70% of all revenue received by the sector comes from fees for services (hospital charges, tuition, etc.); only 12.5% ($260 billion) comes from private contributions   >>more>>.

   Charity alert.  The following organizations have been using mass fundraising appeals in various communities around the country. The overwhelming majority of receipts have been going to pay fundraisng and overhead costs. A miniscule percentage (between 0.4% and 4%) of funds raised has been used to advance the stated mission. All organizations are located in Sata Ana California. Several attorney general offices have cautioned citizens about these organizations. Still, they continue to operate.

Organization	Year	Revenue from Fundraising	Program Expenses	Fundraising and Overhead Expenses
Coalition of Police and Sheriffs (COPS)	2005	$2,054,506	$85,322	$1,994,022
Disabled Firefighters Fund	2005	1,823,026	73,725	1,734,288
American Veterans Relief Foundation	2004-05	1,451,460	12,725	1,445,320
Association for Disabled Firefighters	2004	2,043,470	8,000	2,006,442

As always, Tzedakah. Inc. cautions you to investigate organizations claiming to be charities before you donate, especially if you know nothing about them.

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Tizku L'mitzvos