# Should I Donate to Shriners? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 1, 2019, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-donate-to-shriners/842827 "2019-11-01T04:17:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-donate-to-shriners/842827/1 "2019-11-01T04:17:20Z")
I’ve seen the ads and the children really get to me. But I’m always skeptical, and they seem to have a fairly healthy marketing budget. Anything I should know before contributing? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-donate-to-shriners/842827/2 "2019-11-01T04:34:03Z")
Here’s an older report on [Shriner’s financing from 2007](https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/19/us/19shrine.html). A similar, more recent report about [St. Judes](https://paddockpost.com/2019/02/08/executive-compensation-at-st-judes-2017/)which employs a similar fundraising campaign. I’m going to get some more info about these, I have good contacts in the non-profit world. I’d like to help those children, but $1 million dollar a year administrators don’t need my help. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-donate-to-shriners/842827/3 "2019-11-01T10:45:29Z")
Bill Bryson didn’t like Shriners very much in his book _The Lost Continent_. He described them as a club for guys who like setting fire to each other’s shoes that gave sick kids pennies from the dollars they collected. But that book is from years ago. Dunno if they’ve changed since then. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-donate-to-shriners/842827/4 "2019-11-01T11:00:43Z")
[Charity Navigator](https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=6493) report on Shriners Hospitals For Children. (Not Shriners itself) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2019, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-donate-to-shriners/842827/5 "2019-11-02T04:29:37Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > [Charity Navigator](https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=6493) report on Shriners Hospitals For Children. (Not Shriners itself) I would recommend picking the facility you want to support, and donating directly to it. They are exactly what they say they are: facilities that provide orthopedic and burn care to children, at no cost to them OR their insurance companies. I have personally known several people who received treatment from them, and one of them wasn’t really a burn patient, but when she was a toddler, she was in an accident that led to her needing skin grafts, and this was where she had it done, and made a full recovery. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2019, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-donate-to-shriners/842827/6 "2019-11-02T22:58:33Z")
Thank you for the advice. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2019, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-donate-to-shriners/842827/7 "2019-11-03T09:52:17Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > I’ve seen the ads and the children really get to me. Well, those are some powerful ads. Got me looking for my checkbook. Their production crew should get an award.