Here’s just a plain old "good news" post.
The Salvation Army has done a terrific job of remaining relevant and vital in changing times. A great case study in organizational renewal, particularly as nonprofits begin to think more and more about competition from "fresh faces" in the sector.
So, as reported in Philanthropy Journal, it’s gratifying to see that donations to their 2009 Red Kettle Campaign went up smartly to $139 million, a 7% increase over 2008 in a down economy.
Incidentally, in a sign of the times, $9.6 million (7%) of the total was donated online.
Well done Salvation Army donors, volunteers and staff!
Tom
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This is actually NOT good news. The Salvation Army is recognized as a religious institution, and as such, fails to file a 990. Therefore, there is little accountability on how they spend donated funds — compared to other non-profit organizations.
I stopped giving to them a couple of years ago, when I realized this, and recently heard a similar complaint from a fundraising professional who left a local Salvation Army organization (where he was emplyoed) when he found out how poor their accounting practices were.
The international branch of the Army does file a 990, and it indicates such low incomes for its lead staff that it is difficult to imagine how they recruit and retain qualified staff to do the diffcult jobs of managing quality programs and stewarding funds at an acceptable level.
Unfortunately, too many people do not perform adeqaute research when deciding which organizations to support. The Salvation Army MAY do good works — but they do not have what I consider adequate documentation of their donated funds to prove how well they steward or manage donations.
Donor beware!
Due to the presence of its on-the-street red kettle collection effort, the Salvation Army has tremendous visibility. The public is prone to interpret this visibility as credibility. Anita, you are right that the public does not perform due diligence before donating.
Your desire for accountability is a growing trend that has been becoming all the more acute in the wake of the financial scandals. It remains to be seen how “retail fundraisers” such as the Salvation Arm, which solicit small amounts from large quantities of donors, will be impacted by this trend.
Certainly, a call for more accountability and a realistic expectation of where money goes is necessary.
I wrote about this very top in my blog post titled “How Much is This Dollar Worth?” and offer alternative measures for evaluating nonprofits.
http://blog.redroostergroup.com/2009/10/01/fundraising-how-much-is-this-dollar-worth/