They’ve got everyone fooled into thinking they’re doing God’s work. BULLSHIT. They hide behind “non-profit” status and are operating tax free because of it. MORE BULLSHIT.
They’ve got money. A LOT of it. You think it’s going to the hungry and downtrodden? Think again.
Every officer in the Salvation Army is set up with a house and car. Their kid’s college education is paid in full. All travel (and there’s a lot of it) covered.
Next time you drop a buck into a kettle, just remember, it ISN’T going where you think it is.
Just be nice to someone during the holiday season. It’ll do MUCH more good than that dollar will do with The Salvation Army!!!
As a social liberal who disagrees with their religious dogma, I have to say SA does wonderful work in society. I have gone so far as to volunteer for them in the past, and spent a number of years in their “Healthcare for the Homeless” project. Money diverted from SA is money diverted from the healthcare project which truly does serve the neediest of the needy in this country.
As for their lifestyle, well frankly, it appears to be even more service-oriented than the Mormons.
Hmmm. I’d much rather see fervent spouting of vitriole against a church with hard facts and cites, than what I’ve seen in th’ OP. Bad form, Omnipresent.
I’m afraid it won’t do, Omnipresent, any more than all of those horrible, sensationalist books about ex-“Satanists” or supposedly ex-(Mormons, Jesuits, or name other hated religious group here)s prove anything.
Considering that my Mom worked with the SA for some time, was helped by them, and saw people helped by them, I’d have to see you’re either an idiot, a liar, or you had a personal bad experience with a particular person(s) and have decided to blame the entire organization for it. Since you haven’t really given any details or background for your tripe, you have left it up to us to decide.
The Salvation Army paid my electricity deposit in the winter of 1990 when I was out of work and had lived for a month and a half without electricity (in an all electric apartment).
I spent some time volunteering for the Salvation Army in high school.
I don’t know what they do with their money, but I know a lot of needy people are provided with food and personal hygiene products by the Salvation Army. They’ve done a lot to help people. Maybe they could be doing more, I don’t know, but they’re already doing more than a lot of other groups.
Well, BFD. :rolleyes: This is true of most Protestant denominations–the pastor is supplied with a house, called a “parsonage”, or sometimes the church will assist him by loaning him the money to buy a house, and his car is used for church business, so he gets mileage, and the pastor’s kids usually get full scholarships to the denomination’s colleges.
How about some actual facts?
The Better Business Bureau says it’s okay to give money to them–financial statements. Notice the pie chart at the bottom–“Use of funds as a % of total income”.
The BBB has a huge report on the American Red Cross and the questions that were raised about their 9/11 donations–but…strange, I don’t see anything like that for the Salvation Army. Or is the Better Business Bureau just in cahoots with them? Or maybe they’re just waiting for you to blow the whistle? :rolleyes:
Next time you drop a buck into a kettle, remember that 64 to 76 cents of it is going directly to programs. This is about the same percentage as all the other major charities, like the March of Dimes, MADD, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the NAACP, the Sierra Club, etc.
Next time you donate a buck to the Humane Society, remember that only 54 cents of it is going for programs.
Next time you donate a buck to the Jewish National Fund, remember that only 52 cents of it is going for programs.
Next time you donate a buck to Amnesty International, remember that only 50 cents of it is going for programs.
Whether or not you have the real gen, the can o’ worms just waiting to have the lid lifted – statements without evidence don’t carry far around here, Omnipresent. Sorry, but without some back-up hard facts to substantiate your claim, it cannot be accepted.
Oh, and applause to DDG, for showing you how it’s done.
OK, I ignored everything to 50% for programs. But don’t these figures sound a little…I don’t know, “wrong” to anyone else? (not “incorrect”, but “wrong”, as in, “damn, that’s a lot of freaking overhead %”)
Nearly a 3:1 and nearly a 4:1 multiplier for a charity? That’s not good…
You mean 3 cents worth of the money I spent on my used recliner might be going for some KID to get a COLLEGE EDUCATION? But I thought it was going to a GOOD cause!
As far as Catholic Charities, they give an explanation for the low number on the BBB website.
So, the 9/11 contributions were being held for specific 9/11 causes. (I think there are a couple of typos in there, unless I am just misreading. “2000 audit report” should be “2001 audit report” and amount spent should be $9,686,266.)
I am not sure about the Michael J. Fox organization. I guess they get a bye because it is such a new charity. They need to use funds to build a fundraising platform. In later years, they won’t get the same consideration.
As far as 50% being a high overhead, I don’t really know enough about how charitable organizations work to really know. Perhaps they earmark funds for certain events in later years, so they are never surprised by a disaster or something. I guess it depends on the organization. Some of them don’ t need to spend as much on fund raising as others, so that migth be a consideration as well. I don’t really know enough to argue that point either way, though. Just some ideas.
In North America, “charitable organizations” are big business. They do good work, and I would never advocate not giving to charities, but do it with your eyes open. Your money does not all go to the people the charities help. Every charity in North America has presidents, vice presidents, boards, staff, rent, utilities, fund-raising costs, etc, etc, etc. I’ve worked on the front lines for soliciting charitable donations, and that’s just the world we live in. There are a lot of people in North America making a living working for non-profit organizations. I put myself through secretarial school working for one.
I can say, without need of a cite, that if a disaster of some kind struck Omnipresent’s community, that the Salvation Army would be there and be available to help any and all who would need them.
The Salvation Army is an excellent charity and is worthy of my personal support, which they have had in the past and will continue to have in the future. It is my firm belief that these people are an instrument of God himself.
It’s hard to take money that you had to earn and give it, nearly blind, to a group that says that they’ll put it to good use. I urge people who wish to give but are undecided as to whom to consider the Salvation Army.
