Charities With the Highest Administrative Costs

Mainstreet ^ | 12/26/10 | Greg Blocquet

[Mikey_1962]

1. American Tract Society

Administrative expenses: 68.0%

Topping the list of America’s worst charities is an organization that spent more than $1.6 million dollars on its administrative expenses in 2007, over twice what it spent the previous year.

2. Boys Choir of Harlem

Administrative expenses: 66.3%

Long-respected for its role in improving the lives of disadvantaged and impoverished young people in Harlem, New York, the Boys Choir of Harlem went all the way to the White House, performing for sitting presidents since Lyndon Johnson.

3. National Council of Negro Women (NCNW)

Administrative expenses: 64%

Serving as an umbrella organization for 39 national and local advocacy groups for women of African descent both in the U.S. and abroad, the National Council of Negro Women coordinates its activities with partners in 34 states.

4. Union Rescue Mission, Little Rock

Administrative expenses: 62.1%

Arkansas’s Union Rescue Mission is the first charity on the list whose administrative expenses reached over 60 percent of total expenses for the last reported year. The Mission’s goals are of the highest importance, targeting hunger, victims of abuse, and people struggling with addiction in Arkansas and her neighboring states, which it pursues through the efforts of a few key Baptist reverends.

5. Cherokee National Historical Society

Administrative expenses: 58.2%

Dedicated to preserving the history and traditions of the Cherokee people, the Cherokee National Historical Society, based in Oklahoma, is the fifth-most inefficient charity in the United States

[BunnySlippers]

Hmm ...

[Graybeard58]

Would real people (non-journalists) say Mr. Graham?

I'm generalizing, I know but I believe that fellow Baptists would address him as brother Graham. If they knew him well, perhaps brother Franklin or brother Frank, whatever he goes by.

[kalee]

I’m Anglican so my knowledge of Baptist practices of addressing their clergy is limited. However we do count among our closest friends a Baptist pastor and his family. When visiting his church we have have heard him called Pastor by some and Brother by others. We have never heard him addressed as Reverend.

[Graybeard58]

We have never heard him addressed as Reverend.

Because he doesn't want to be addressed as "Reverend", yet if you see his name in the paper when he preaches a funeral, most likely he will be referred to as Reverend. That's because generally speaking, news people are about as ignorant concerning religion as they are concerning guns.

[EDINVA]

You’d THINK Mr. Blocquet could check with the charities before publishing his list to see if there were extenuating circumstances. Also, smaller charities’ expenses will almost always be proportionately higher, given the basic costs of doing business vs. donations.

[Revolting cat!]

What’s acceptable to ya, 40%, 25%? Rackets, all of them! Give to the man on the street, to your local church.

[Tax-chick]

Thanks, that could be useful information! Not that I’m likely to meet Franklin Graham, but I do meet Baptist ministers at Republican Party events sometimes. Generally I call them “Sir,” but as I get older, younger men seem to be a bit flummoxed by that ... and I wouldn’t want to address a respectable clergyman as “Son.”

[Wuli]

Not making the case myself, but:

“Garland-based American Tract Society says ‘worst’ charity rating came from its higher costs in 2007”

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-tractsociety_15met.ART.State.Edition1.299eaa5.html