Charity/my money
#1
Senior Member

Thread Starter

Did a lot of flying the past ten days but something I saw has me pissed.
My wife and I were sitting in a smaller airport waiting for a short 2 hour flight to get to the International flight.
Down the corridor come 3 people in uniform. My wife says here is the flight crew coming. I took a look and no it was 3 people from the Salvation ARMY in uniform. They took a seat and when we boarded, they were in first class!
I was pissed that they were using the money I donate to fly first class. (I was not in first class)
Maybe I am wrong/ they might have paid for the tickets themselves, gotten an upgrade (flight was full) for free.
To me it just looks bad.
I have clients that drive cars that are well below their means., but to maintain good appearances in the business/ religious community they down grade to maintain appearance.
I guess I will watch more closely when I donate to a charity.
Rant over.
Pics of wife soon!
My wife and I were sitting in a smaller airport waiting for a short 2 hour flight to get to the International flight.
Down the corridor come 3 people in uniform. My wife says here is the flight crew coming. I took a look and no it was 3 people from the Salvation ARMY in uniform. They took a seat and when we boarded, they were in first class!
I was pissed that they were using the money I donate to fly first class. (I was not in first class)
Maybe I am wrong/ they might have paid for the tickets themselves, gotten an upgrade (flight was full) for free.
To me it just looks bad.
I have clients that drive cars that are well below their means., but to maintain good appearances in the business/ religious community they down grade to maintain appearance.
I guess I will watch more closely when I donate to a charity.
Rant over.
Pics of wife soon!
#2
Senior Member

Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Upper Chesapeake Bay
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"Pics of wife soon! "
A man that knows and follows the rules!
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A man that knows and follows the rules!

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#3
Admirals Club 


I doubt they booked the tickets with donation pool money, more likely a free upgrade, which is not uncommon at all for frequent fliers.
#4
Admirals Club 


Many of the national "charity" organizations have upper management that are highly compensated. Goodwill, Red Cross, United Way, etc. Look them up and find out how much of their donations actually go to the needy compared to management and administrative wages. Not that top execs of these important organizations shouldn't be paid well, but kinda makes ya wonder...
#5
Admirals Club




I just finished reading an article on how much charities pay for investment advice. When I was working I donated a lot to the local community fund. When I stopped working I asked to become involved. They had a couple of projects that sounded OK to support. When I asked the director what were the milestones for review and how they were going to measure if it worked her answer was "Well we spent all the money so we accomplished our goals.: They never saw me again and I found out she was making 400K plus bennies you would die to have.
#6
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Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: North Central Florida
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Many of the national "charity" organizations have upper management that are highly compensated. Goodwill, Red Cross, United Way, etc. Look them up and find out how much of their donations actually go to the needy compared to management and administrative wages. Not that top execs of these important organizations shouldn't be paid well, but kinda makes ya wonder...
#7
Admirals Club 


Salvation Army is Legit!!! 100% above board on everything it does. Upper level executives make in a year what many of you make in a month! Like $35,000
United Way
Red Cross
Goodwill
And MANY more will never see a dime of my money. IMHO....they're $$$$ making machines that do very little to help anyone but themselves overall. Do they all provide, yes, but nowhere near the level they should. I put most all religious denominations in this class as well.
United Way
Red Cross
Goodwill
And MANY more will never see a dime of my money. IMHO....they're $$$$ making machines that do very little to help anyone but themselves overall. Do they all provide, yes, but nowhere near the level they should. I put most all religious denominations in this class as well.

#8
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Join Date: Jan 2005
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My charity pet peeve is point of sale solicitation. I flat out don't make donations to any organization without researching them first. My wife and I have a budget for such, but I have never, and will never, make a donation on first contact without time to properly vet the organization.
#9
Admirals Club 


My charity pet peeve is point of sale solicitation. I flat out don't make donations to any organization without researching them first. My wife and I have a budget for such, but I have never, and will never, make a donation on first contact without time to properly vet the organization.
That's called "Common Sense".

Most folks should learn how to get some.

#10

It is unlikely they were flying paid F unless it was part of an international trip. Salvation Army is one of the good charities that does not have bloated admin spending on salaries. That is a rarity.
#12
Senior Member

Small derail, but along the same intent as OP....... There was a house down the canal from me that used to be owned by Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Why would MADD need a waterfront house just off of the ICW in Florida????
I sent the info to local news agencies, but nothing ever came from it and the house has since sold.
Research before you donate, fellas!!!!
I sent the info to local news agencies, but nothing ever came from it and the house has since sold.
Research before you donate, fellas!!!!
#14
Admirals Club 


A lot of the time airlines will donate seats depending on availability and purpose.
#17
Admirals Club 


Small derail, but along the same intent as OP....... There was a house down the canal from me that used to be owned by Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Why would MADD need a waterfront house just off of the ICW in Florida????
I sent the info to local news agencies, but nothing ever came from it and the house has since sold.
Research before you donate, fellas!!!!
I sent the info to local news agencies, but nothing ever came from it and the house has since sold.
Research before you donate, fellas!!!!
#18
Senior Member

That graphic is full of outdated and misleading information and should not be used for charitable decisions.
Charity Navigator is a great source: https://www.charitynavigator.org/
I won't even toss a nickel in a Salvation Army Christmas kettle after the news that they paid a crooked Florida state senator $95,000 a year and refused to say what he did for the money.
http://www.tbo.com/ap/politics/jim-n...army-job-16926
"...Norman declined to discuss his abrupt departure from the Salvation Army, but issued a statement Thursday saying he needed to focus on his new job as a state Senator. "These obligations of my newly elected position are foremost to me at this time," he said. News that Norman was working for the Salvation Army while serving as a Hillsborough County Commissioner making $92,000 annually angered scores of his constituents and raised concerns that donations to the nonprofit would suffer during the holiday season. Representatives for the nonprofit repeatedly refused to release records showing what Norman did or when he worked, saying such records are protected by federal law. But the negative reaction was so widespread that Salvation Army officials felt compelled to issue a statement last month saying that Norman monitors legislation in Tallahassee affecting Salvation Army, a duty typically ascribed to lobbyists in the state capital. Norman's two salaries were revealed last month in news reports regarding his wife's $435,000 lakefront house in Arkansas. That property, purchased with a $500,000 gift from the late activist Ralph Hughes to Norman's wife, Mearline, was at the center of a nasty legal battle between Norman and Republican Senate candidate Kevin Ambler, ..."
Charity Navigator is a great source: https://www.charitynavigator.org/
I won't even toss a nickel in a Salvation Army Christmas kettle after the news that they paid a crooked Florida state senator $95,000 a year and refused to say what he did for the money.
http://www.tbo.com/ap/politics/jim-n...army-job-16926
"...Norman declined to discuss his abrupt departure from the Salvation Army, but issued a statement Thursday saying he needed to focus on his new job as a state Senator. "These obligations of my newly elected position are foremost to me at this time," he said. News that Norman was working for the Salvation Army while serving as a Hillsborough County Commissioner making $92,000 annually angered scores of his constituents and raised concerns that donations to the nonprofit would suffer during the holiday season. Representatives for the nonprofit repeatedly refused to release records showing what Norman did or when he worked, saying such records are protected by federal law. But the negative reaction was so widespread that Salvation Army officials felt compelled to issue a statement last month saying that Norman monitors legislation in Tallahassee affecting Salvation Army, a duty typically ascribed to lobbyists in the state capital. Norman's two salaries were revealed last month in news reports regarding his wife's $435,000 lakefront house in Arkansas. That property, purchased with a $500,000 gift from the late activist Ralph Hughes to Norman's wife, Mearline, was at the center of a nasty legal battle between Norman and Republican Senate candidate Kevin Ambler, ..."
#19
Senior Member


Mine is the strong arm tactics of groups like The United Way--at work. I once worked at an organization that would call you out if you didn't donate a certain amount of your paycheck to them. Every 6 months there was an "all hands" meeting to discuss everyone's giving percentages.
Let's call it what it is--a competition between CEO's to say whose org gives more money.
Let's call it what it is--a competition between CEO's to say whose org gives more money.
My charity pet peeve is point of sale solicitation. I flat out don't make donations to any organization without researching them first. My wife and I have a budget for such, but I have never, and will never, make a donation on first contact without time to properly vet the organization.
#20
Senior Member

I have a local charity I like for those reasons. The one I like the money stays local, there is one small office space and two administrative ladies. We have dues to cover those expenses along with the one annual lunch where the money is collected. All donations were distributed up until last year where some was reserved to cover a down year in the future.