Charity Donations: Where Is The Money Going!?

Tools

Story Published: Apr 6, 2009 at 5:54 PM PDT

By Holly Zuluaga

Video
WA STATE--If you're going to give some of your hard earned cash to charity, you want to know they're making the most of it.

"Doing a little bit of homework on charities you don't really know about is a very good investment of your time," Rob McKenna said.

The Attorney General told me the best place to start, is a well-established charity.

"If it's a charity you're not sure about, check them out with the Washington Secretary of State, they're responsible for registering all charities. So if someone contacts you for a charitable donation and they're not registered don't give to them," McKenna said.

Some places outsource fundraising, which can take a cut from the donations.

Benton-Franklin Humane Society uses Alpha Dog Marketing, they get 88% of the money donated.

That's higher than the average.

"There is expense involved with our appeal, we make up for it and then some with what we get back," Ed Dawson said.

A company called Special Projects also raises money for local places like the Pasco Chamber and the Irish Games.

They're also a safe bet, 86% of the dollars go right to the charity.

On the other hand, Action News found Direct Resources Group and Aria Communications did fundraising for Planned Parenthood of Central Washington last year.

Planned Parenthood got just about half of the money raised.

They're not working with those companies any more , and are doing more fundraising in house.

The bottom line is, ask a lot of questions, it's your money, and you deserve to know where it's going.

Current Weather

Icon
Current Temp 59.0 °F
Fair
Video
More Weather

Upload directly from your mobile device.

Learn how

YouNews

This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.

On Demand