Brilliant said the plans announced by the Red Cross suggest it has received too much money.

That IS brilliant, Brilliant!!!

Caveat donor.

Bump for NO MORE GIVING $$$ TO RED CROSS until they demonstrate decency in allocating those generously given funds!

the president of the New York Community Trust -- which created the fund in partnership with the United Way of New York City -- said the fund would not focus solely on the East Coast, where the violence occurred, but could award grants to nondisaster-related nonprofit groups, including ones that canceled annual fund-raisers in the aftermath of the attack

"Nondisaster related nonprofit groups"??? Like the ACLU, presumably???

How about NAMBLA, now that United Way is stiffing the Boy Scouts???

administrative upgrades

Isn't that doublespeak for giving a lot of bosses raises?

No doubt. Remember William Aramony, that United Way honcho a few years ago who got busted for his gold-plated lifestyle?

A piece of that $452 million will go a long way toward a new yacht!

BTTT

This is crap and precisely the reason why, whenever possible, you must direct your charitable giving precisely to the group you wish to receive it. These large organizations have significant administrative overhead that eats up a large portion of donations. They also have the tendency to direct money to a multitude of areas, some of which have nothing to do with the giver's original intention.

(The thought of WTC victims' money going to a group that may teach "tolerance" of Islamic Fundamentalism is enough to make me violently ill.)

Can someone please post the salaries paid to Executives of the Red Cross, United Way and the Salvation Army??

This is crap and precisely the reason why, whenever possible, you must direct your charitable giving precisely to the group you wish to receive it. I agree. But in the wake of the 911 attacks, all of us had nowhere else to send it. I could just scream since we were among those who sent the Red Cross money! No more from me!

I live in a small community and have interviewed and transcribed the stories of many of our veterans. Almost all of those that had been in WW-2 had nothing much good to say about the Red Cross. They thought it was an organization full of corrupt shisters, even way back then. My wife and I gave through the Salvation Army. Looks like we made the right choice.

I'm in the same boat. With this incident everyone of conscience wanted to show their support immediately and the large organizations were the avenues that were available right away.

(However, when giving under normal circumstances it is best to avoid these organizations which, too often, direct funds to their own salaries and to non-related activities.)

My wife and I gave through the Salvation Army.

Amen...This is the only "Organization" I donate to...the red cross and especially united way are overblown buraucracies that collect enormous amounts of money and do next to nothing real...the money is more spent on their own orgs. supporting their top heavy management.

BE DISCERNING IN YOUR GIVING!!!!

FMCDH

The thought of WTC victims' money going to a group that may teach "tolerance" of Islamic Fundamentalism is enough to make me violently ill

And also the thought expressed by the Red Cross flack that this would, somehow, prevent such events in the future.

Can someone please post the salaries paid to Executives of the Red Cross, United Way and the Salvation Army??

There's some whistle-blower group out there that keeps an eye on charity spending, but I can't remember the name.

You might try contacting the Star-Ledger reporter who wrote this article: Peggy McGlone covers the business of nonprofits. She may be reached at pmcglone@starledger.com

Makes me want to take back my donation that I made through Amazon around 9/12. Looks like I need to go back to my established donation policy: I give to my church and to a local home for abused and displaced children. In both instances I know full well that our money is being put to good use that I approve of. I dare say there are few of the big charity organizations that aren't infested with liberals from top to bottom. I had hoped that the Red Cross was an exception but it would appear that's not the case.

MM

My only consolation is that the money I gave them for the WTC attack is the LAST money they will EVER receive from me! Ugh!

Top Twenty Salaries of Charity Execs Name & Title Organization Top Salary*

Kelichi Itakura, Rsrch Scientist-Molecular Biology City of Hope 1,784,777**

Paul A. Marks, M.D., Past President/CEO Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Ctr. & Affil's. 1,533,609

Roger Ohmstede, Past Accounting Senior Executive Boy Scouts of America -- National Office 1,066,824***

Joel Becker, Past Deputy National Exec. Director Girl Scouts of the USA -- National Office 648,790****

Edwin J. Feulner, Jr., President/CEO Heritage Foundation 535,051

Thomas D. Pollard, M.D., President Salk Institute for Biological Studies 502,814

Abraham H. Foxman, National Director Anti-Defamation League of B'Nai Brith 496,417

Donald E. Thomas, National COO American Cancer Society 490,777

Lynn Taussig, President/CEO National Jewish Medical & Research Center 456,659

Christopher C. DeMuth, President American Enterprise Inst. for Pub. Policy Rsrch. 447,302

James E. Mulvihill, DMD, President/CEO Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International 429,636

Robert J. Beall, President/CEO Cystic Fibrosis Foundation 425,696

Larry E. Kun, M.D., Chair-Radiation Oncology St. Jude Children's Research Hospital 393,253

Mitchell S. Rosenthal, M.D., President Phoenix House Foundation 390,543

Newton McCullough, M.D., Director of Medicine Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children 383,968

Sanford Cloud, Jr., President/CEO National Conference of Community and Justice 381,158

James E. Williams, Jr., President/CEO National Easter Seal 357,632

Richard Moe, President National Trust for Historic Preservation 357,295

Robert Ross, Executive Director Muscular Dystrophy Association 357,126

David Mercer, CEO YMCA of the United States--National Office 349,650

* Includes "Compensation," "Contributions to employee benefit plans," "Expense accounts and other allowances" and deferred compensation paid in reporting year, as reported to the IRS. Compensation of medical professionals may include fees for patient care in addition to salary. ** Includes $1,614,718 in "royalty income relating to his discovery of Humulin, synthetically produced insulin." *** Includes $ 804,140 in contributions to employee benefit plans and deferred compensation. **** Includes $422,645 in contributions to employee benefit plans and deferred compensation.

The salary information was calculated by adding the IRS Form 990 categories of "Compensation," "Contributions to employee benefit plans," and "Expense account and other allowances." Not included are any benefits received but not reported in the charity's IRS Form 990. A range of numbers indicates the range of a charity's top three salaries. A single number indicates the organization's top salary. A "?" symbol indicates that AIP does not have complete compensation information on the charity. A "N/A" symbol indicates that the organization is a social welfare, church-related, veterans, or other type of organization that is exempt by the government from providing more complete information on salaries. NOTE: AIP grades are not based on the salary ranges reported in the IRS form 990. DUE TO DIFFERENCES IN THE WAY SALARIES MIGHT BE ALLOCATED, HIGH SALARIES DO NOT NECESSARILY INDICATE INEFFICIENCIES JUST AS LOW SALARIES ARE NOT ALWAYS A PLUS.

I think you have the best advice: Keep your charity local.

WOW. Thanks for the info. Didn't see Red Cross or Salvation Army in that list though. Guess they're not in the top 20 of "charity execs."