Guidelines for fund-raising... Profits / Proceeds / Monies / Portion of monies?

Factual Questions
1

There are events organized to persuade people to donate money to charities by offering products/services and stating that “a portion of the proceeds will go to…”. If this is a product/service that I may commonly purchase, I have spent the money on it, but wondered just how much has actually been donated to the charity.

What I am asking is just what each of the terms mean or whether they are all interchangable. Are there guidelines for using each of these?
My guess is:
Profits: after all the products are paid for, staff/employees are paid, all expenses are paid and the bosses salary is covered, anything left over is given to stated charity
Proceeds: $.05 for each $2 bagel sold is given to the charity
Monies: a cut of the profits?
Portion of monies/proceeds: token amount is donated, just enough to allow you to claim a fund-raising event

2

None of these terms is regulated. What they mean is dependant on the company making the claims. They could just be trying to sucker you, or they could be making a real contribution. You wouldn’t be able to tell just from there terms.

If you’re really interested in giving, give directly to a charity of your choice. You can get a better handle on their mission so you know what cause you’re supporting, and if you ask they will tell you what percentage of your contribution actually gets to those you’re trying to help. And, if you’re giving a serious amount, it’s also tax deductable.

–Cliffy

3

I’m a skeptic. If they don’t state how much is going to the charity, I assume it’s a lipservice amount (minimal). It’s just as easy to say “$1.00 of each purchase going to charity” as it is to say “a portion”.

4
      • There’s a book called “Lords of Poverty” I am halfway through casually reading right now. It is an expose on the international aid business, written during late 80’s-early 90’s I think. Somebody here recommended it to me but right off I don’t remember who. In it, it states that some groups are operated on very little money but there are some that use as much as 85% of their collected funds on “administration”, which is a nice way of saying that there’s lot of cushy, high-paying jobs in the aid business. - MC