If charities made their accounts and banking public, would we ever entertain continuing giving to them?

Question

I suspect that charities (most) exist to raise money from the benevolence of the public and concessions of government.

The end user and cause promoted to achieve this is not best served this way, and lets the government off the hook in it's negligence.

So is this yet another way to s***w the well intentioned public?

Answer 1

There is an organization in Pueblo, Colorado that publishes exactly how much of each donated dollar actually goes to the cause. It's updated yearly, and available to anyone. Sorry I don't have more details than this. Can't remember the name any more.

Answer 2

If you are in the US you can go to either http://www.foundationcenter.org or http://www.irs.gov and learn how to get a copy of the form 990 which every nonprofit is required to submit which does mnake their financial accounting public.   Until this yr only charities with over $25,000 in yearly evenue had to do a 990 but this yr everyone does.   You can also ask any charity in which you are interested for it's financial statement.  

Not every charity is financially efficient but very few exist just to rip off the public and those which do are usually caught and prosecuted.   Many charities especially smaller ones operate largely with volunteer services people giving time because they care and being on the spiot to see exactly where their money goes.   I can understand your concern but please do learn the facts such as that accounts and banking records are publically available before making blanket accusations.