By David J. Stewart | Updated August 2012
I
am disgusted with America's charities, who pay their executives 6-digit
salaries.
Children International asks for donations of $22 per child, per
month, to provide food, medical, education and other needs. Yet, their CEO was
paid $374,935 in 2008! It is appalling to me that an organization that
stresses how far a mere $22 will go per month, pays their CEO $374,935
a year! THAT'S CLOSE TO $200 AN HOUR!!! That's just plain wrong in my
opinion. Anything can be justified, but that doesn't necessarily make it
proper or ethical.
I received a book and some literature form Voice Of The Martyr (VOM) recently. Their latest 2012 VOM newsletter features Godwin Vincent (age 24) from Kaduna, Nigeria, who had his arm allegedly cut off in 2011 by Muslims for his Christian faith. The photo shows him with his prosthetic limb. My heart breaks when I see stuff like that; but I also realize the manipulative nature of charities. There's no way of verifying the legitimacy of the VOM story about Godwin Vincent.
However, I immediately went to see how much money the top executive of the Voice Of The Martyr (VOM) is paid annually and James E. Dau was compensated $121,813 in 2010! THAT'S $60 AN HOUR!!! That's not too shabby for a so-called “charity.” Although it's less than 0.5% of the total donations received, I could NEVER in good conscience give money to any charity that pays a 6-digit salary to it's chief officer. That's 4-times what the average American with a decent job pays these days.
Another
questionable charity is James Robison's
Life Today International (who refuse to disclose their finances to the
Better Business Bureau). I'll give you one guess why! Life Today always shows
starving children from poor third-world nations. They really know how to break
people's hearts (and it's all planned that way). Such advertising gimmicks
have brought in hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars for the Robinsons over the
years (and the money just keeps flooding in).
People's brains go from the television to the telephone with their credit card. You'd think they'd take time out to do a little research to learn where all the money is going. Hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars, and they refuse to tell the Better Business Bureau (BBB) where the money is going? What idiots give money to these people? You can count me out brother!
Based upon the evidence, I think the whole 501c3 non-profit business thing is a fraudulent scam sanctioned by the government. That's not to say that all groups operating under the umbrella of a 501c3 are evil; but it does mean that the 501c3 itself is ripe for abuse. For Just 92 Cents A Day You Can Pay Child Fund's CEO $316,840 A Year! (those poor kids).
I heard something once that forever turned my mind against charities. A minister literally paid a man on the street $5 to lay in the garbage so he could take a picture for his monthly news bulletin. The minister made up a fictitious name and falsely claimed that the man had found Christ through his ministry, and was now serving God faithfully. People saw the photo and read the story, their heart broke, and no doubt the donations soared. Cha-ching!!! And it's all perfectly legal!!! Sad, huh? I lost all confidence in charities after that. Also, 501c3 pay no taxes because they're supposedly non-profit. Isn't it amazing that all these NON-PROFIT organizations are paying 6-digit salaries to their top dog?
People should only give to local New Testament churches or local community charities, where you can see exactly how every dollar is being spent. Ask for the financial statements and read them. Inquire how much the president of the organization is paid (compensated).
Some of the most unethical organizations in America are charities. One of the most popular charities is for abused animals, ASPCA. I wouldn't give them a penny! I saw a commercial recently that showed cute little animals, suffering. There was sad music playing in the background. A woman begged for an $18 pledge each month to save the animals. She said it's only 60 cents a day. My first thought was that it was another rip-off so-called “charity” and I went to check how much the CEO is paid per year. I was right! In 2011 their CEO, Edwin J. Sayres, was paid $566,064!!! They beg on TV for your 60 cents an hour to save those poor animals, while their CEO gets paid $566,064 a year. I don't know about you, but that makes me sick!!!
Just think how many more poor, helpless, hurting, animals could be saved if Mr. Sayres reduced his annual income by $500,000!!! The average American doesn't make anywhere near $66,064 a year. Edwin Sayres makes $566,064 each and every year!!! Were you dumb enough to send ASPCA your money? Were you foolish enough to pledge $18 a month to rescue an animal from being raped, beaten, abused and neglected? It's insane! Those dumb Americans! My question is who's going to rescue Americans from ourselves? People woefully lack wisdom and understanding. They are ever-learning as 2nd Timothy 3:7 teaches, but never able to come to the truth. Americans buy books, watch television, listen to radio, read magazines and attend seminars and; yet, they are amongst the dumbest people on the planet.
Friends of the World Food Program is another fat cat charity, who compensated their CEO $301,828 in 2007. THAT'S $150 AN HOUR!!! All these fat cat, tax-exempt 501c3 charities, show the public all the poor and starving children; but they don't show you where their CEO's live, the fancy cars they drive, the exquisite lifestyles they live, the exorbitant money they spend on themselves. If the public saw the truth, they'd never give them a dime.
I hate to say it, but it's nonetheless true, most people are gullible. They see images of starving children and give donations on impulse. Even when people see the large salaries paid to charity CEO's, it really doesn't sink-in to their brain. But if you could see the life of Riley that they enjoy, with the swimming pools, fancy cars and boats, luxurious homes, wine and dancing, frequent lavish vacations, then you'd get upset and stop giving them money. You shouldn't trust charities. If I give to a homeless person, then I know where the money is going (never give anything if you smell alcohol).
The
Salvation Army isn't quite as bad,
According to Forbes
the Salvation Army's top dog, Todd Bassett, took home $175,050 from the
“CHARITABLE” organization's donations for the fiscal year ending in 2004.
THAT'S $90 AN HOUR!!! I wonder how many Santa Claus buckets need to be
filled to pay Mr. Bassett's extravagant salary? I wouldn't give a dime to the
Salvation Army. (The top executive was
paid $259,720 in 2012.) No doubt, they have all kinds of excuses to justify
such outrageous salaries, but no one needs that kind of salary; and it is
certainly unbecoming of a so-called “charitable organization.” That is my
Christian opinion. I realize that
top executives are often paid high salaries for their fund-raising abilities
and expertise; yet, it's just inconsistent with claiming to be a Christian
“minister” (which means “servant”). The Salvation Army also owns lucrative
real estate in Hawaii. That bothers me. As of 2016 more than half of all
Americans earn less than $30,000 per year. So why should the person leading
the Salvation Army get paid TEN TIMES what the average American citizen earns
in a year?
In my opinion, all large American charities are a big fraud. I want to vomit when I see the plethora of ads from charities begging for our donations, which (they say) might mean “life or death” for some child If that's the case, just think how many more children's lives could be saved if the CEO's of these fat cat charities were to give back 90% of their outrageous salary. God forbid that charity executives would have to live on $75,000 a year! My, oh my, how would they survive?
What gets me peeved is that a charitable organization can actually pay their CEO $350,000 a year and still be rated by the BBB as a great company. Not in my book! The BBB is a joke in America! Many companies who support the BBB are given preferential treatment. In my opinion, you can't trust information from the BBB, nor from America's big charities.
Red Cross and United Way are even worse. The top CEO at Red Cross pulled down a $651,957 salary in 2003! THAT'S $325 AN HOUR!!! According to Forbes, United Way's top executive made $629,950 in 2004! THAT'S $315 AN HOUR!!! Why do people support these fat cat charities?
Another increasingly popular children's charity is CHILD TRAIN, who grip people's hearts with sad photos of deformed children (take a look at their website). According to the BBB, the charity paid their CEO Brian Mullaney $658,058 in 2008-2009!!! In just 36-months, the charity has had 21 COMPLAINTS filed against them with the Better Business Bureau!!! BEWARE!
A lot of people give money to charities to boost their public image, feel good about themselves or to find a tax write-off. It is a sore evil in America. While an estimated 18,000 children continue to starve to death daily throughout the world, and others eat bugs to survive, America's biggest charities continue to pay their top executives outrageous salaries. It is a false balance in God's eyes. America's charities have become lucrative businesses.
My advice to people is to find some poor person and give the money directly to them. There are many poor people today, and others who have lost their jobs, or are homeless, and you can be a blessing to them directly. And best of all, you know that 100% of the money is going to charity, and not helping to pay someone's $600,000 salary! Really, it is insane to pay someone that kind of money in a so-called “charity.”
Who do you think will appreciate your money more... some fat cat charity or a struggling family who has no income?
If you DO decide to support any charity, demand a financial report of where the donations are being spent. This way you can see first hand where your money is going, and can make sure that you're not buying someone a mansion in the suburbs. Don't accept a vague summary, kindly ask for specifics. If they don't disclose such information, give elsewhere. Honestly, too many people are abusing the system today, living extravagantly on donations, because people don't think.
I just can't in good conscience drop my money into a Santa Claus's bucket at Christmas time, when I know the top dog at the Salvation Army is being compensated $175,000 a year!
You
might as well burn your money when you support these big charities (and that
definitely includes religious ministries as well). I cringe when I hear ads
telling people how much their $22 a month can do to better a poor child's
life, knowing that the CEO of that charity got paid $374,935 in 2008! Yet, so
many people sit at home, staring at some picture of a child they're supporting
for $22 a month, failing to realize that the CEO of that company makes
15-TIMES what the average American family gets paid annually. No CEO of a
charitable organization ought to be paid more than $74,935 a year, and that's
a BIG SALARY, which leaves $300,000 remaining from this guy's salary. For $22
per month, $300,000 can help an additional 1,136 poor children! Yet,
the charity appeals to the American public, from families who are struggling
financially to live on $30,000 a year, to give $22 per month. The whole
charity scene in America is enough to make one want to go vomit.
Please stop giving to big charities and start giving money directly to the poor!!! Eliminate the middleman who's living high on the hog. Charities are some of the biggest scams these days.
Isn't it something that in the midst of a harsh recession, when tens-of-millions of Americans have lost their jobs, and 35,000,000 Americans1 are receiving government Food Stamps, that a charity can pay someone $374,000? I just don't understand why people give to charities like that, when you can give it directly to the poor.
Furthermore, most of those big charities don't share the Gospel with the people being helped. Even the Salvation Army is more Army than Salvation these days. When you give money directly to the poor, you can witness to them concerning Jesus Christ, or give them a Gospel of John. Just think how much further your money can go by giving it directly to the poor. I am a firm believer in helping the poor, but not through some fat cat organization that keeps back $600,000 a year for it's CEO. That's crazy!
Remember that every penny you own is God's money. God gives you everything that you have in life. Scripturally, we are to give to the poor, and in so doing we are lending to the Lord (Proverbs 19:17). There's nothing in the Bible about supporting fat cat charities nor richy rich preachers. We ought to support the work of God with our time, money and resources, but make sure it is truly a work of God committed to winning the lost to Jesus Christ. So many foolish people these days are giving money to fake ministries that don't even preach the Gospel.
Also, I wouldn't give a dime to any ministry that is not King James Only. Many people errantly think that they're going to receive big rewards in Heaven for giving many to false prophets, social clubs and dead-beat ministries that do nothing for the cause of Christ. Philippians 2:16, “Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.” If we don't hold forth the Word of Life (that is, preach the Gospel), then we are labouring in vain (useless). Most people who think they are serving Jesus Christ are actually pulling on the same rope as the Devil. If your money is paying for worship services, church musical concerts and religious unity events, then you are wasting your money on rubbish.
Romans 10:15, “...as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” God is not interested in beautiful voices that can sing, nor beautiful hands that can play the piano, nor beautiful lips that can speak eloquently... if we have ugly feet that fail to carry the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to lost sinners out in the highways and hedges so they can be saved.
Big charities pay big salaries which is a big waste of God's money!
