I've read many articles like this about different groups and it's hard to know what to believe and if all the information is there. So what I started to do long ago, is donate to none of them and instead pick local groups who I am familiar with and have information that I can verify to donate to instead.
Lately there have been ads on TV asking people to donate to an association to help prevent Ebola. Who are they, where does the money go, how much are the organizers taking home in wages etc etc etc .......no one knows.
There was a time people did good things from the heart and then at some point someone said "we can make a living at this and a good living at that" and then it ceased to be from the heart and more towards the bank accounts.
Neither is it big organizations like the Red Cross. There are donation boxes in our area (and probably others) that look like charity boxes but in truth the items are collected by a company that is privately owned and the items end up in their stores in Toronto. Great business when you think about it, especially when your stock is given to you free.
The problem is global, not exclusively in the USA.
We all remember the tsunami in Sri Lanka nearly ten years ago (December 2004), Canadians were very generous and quickly donated $360 millions (including partial matching share from the government) to the Canadian Red Cross.
Several years later, the Canadian Red Cross was still sitting with $200 million (more than half) in its bank account.
We have long stopped giving any money to that organization after checking their high level of expenses and salaries/benefits.
