Tzedakah, Inc.
Supporting More Effective Jewish Giving
Web address:www.just-tzedakah.org
MEMO:
FROM: Ira Kaminow, President
TO: Friends of Tzedakah, Inc.
DATE: March 26, 2007;
RE: What's new in the world of nonprofits.
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Passover is Just Around the Corner. Don't Forget Maot Chittim. Maot Chittim (literally wheat money) for the poor is an age-old custom practiced in all Jewish communities. We urge you to make generous contributions to charities that will distribute maot chittim on your behalf. Click here to find organizations that accept contributions to be distributed as maot chittim.
Hazon Yeshaya Meets Our Jewish Nonprofits in the Sunshine Standards for Transparency and Accountability. We are pleased to welcome Hazon Yeshaya to organizations that meet our stiff Jewish Nonprofits in the Sunshine transparency standards. Hazon Yeshaya's main program consists of soup kitchens that feed the poor of Israel. Hazon Yeshaya also runs day care centers for children from impoverished families, vocational training for the destitute, free dental clinics, and a clothing and shoe warehouse for the poor. Hazon Yeshaya accepts contributions for maot chittim. Click here to learn more about Hazon Yeshaya.
A Government Agency Gets it Right: Spending on Overhead is the Wrong Way to Judge Charities.The Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) is the nation's largest workplace charitable giving program. It allows federal employees to make contributions through payroll deductions. Historically, charities had to generally keep administrative and fundraising costs at no more than 25% of total revenues in order to be eligible to participate. Now the government's Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which administers the program, wants to drop the requirment. Some in congress and in the nonprofit community are pressuring OPM to go back to their old ways. >>More>> We support the change. Read our pamphlet Smart Tzedakah: How to Evaluate Charities Before You Give and you'll see why we think it's generally not smart to judge charities by the amount they reportedly spend on overhead and fundraising. First, charity financial data are often wrong. Studies show that some charities understate the amount spent on adminstration and fundraising. Second, there are really no one-size-fits-all criteria for spending on administration and fundrasing. Administrative expenditures help assure such essential functions as efficient management, effective financial controls, and accountability. Fundraising expenses are necessary to attract resources so that essential missions can be accomplished. Click here for a view closer to our own.
That's We're Talkin' About: The High Cost of Board Negligence. Closure recently came to a case of grand larceny. Charles Rosen and Jeffrey Aulenbach, former officials of the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club, were required to pay restitution of $38,575 and $32,363 respectively for stealing $1.2 million from the organization. Michael Davidson, president of the New York-based Governance Matters analyzed the role of the board's negligence in the whole sordid matter. Davidson reports: "The treasurer for 10 years told the Department of Investigation that he had 'no particular responsibilities...I'm an accountant so they named me as the treasurer.' He did not review the financial records or the reports prepared by the accountant and auditor." "Significant funds were disguised as payments to non-existent youth programs. Routine program reviews might have surfaced these payments." >>More>> That's why our Jewish Nonprofits in the Sunshine program emphasizes the importance of an independent board with sound policies and practices in evaluating nonprofit organizations.
Best wishes for a happy and kosher Passover
חג כשר ושמח
Tizku L'mitzvos