I-Team: How Money Is Divided - What Charities Really Get
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Kicking off the Season of Giving, a new state report shows donations to charities slumping and the percentage money intended for charities slipping.
The Charitable Solicitation Licensing Division Annual Report from the Secretary of State's Office looks at money raised by solicitors, or professional fundraisers, for charities between July 1, 2013 and June 30, 2014. All told, they pulled in $21.4 million, which is down a third from the previous year's haul of $32 million and a four-year low.
Compounding the problem, North Carolina charities are also getting a smaller percentage of the total take. According to the report, only 42-percent of the money raised actually got where it was intended. The year before, it was 50-percent.
"They can see, in this report how much money has come in, how much money actually flowed through to the charitable mission of the organization," said David Heinen, with the NC Center for Nonprofits.
In some cases, that flow through isn't much. Take the Human Rights Campaign. A professional fundraiser brought in more than $23,000 for the group but only $750 made it there, just over 3-percent of overall donations.
In two separate campaigns, a fundraiser for the North Carolina Troopers Association pulled in almost $1.5 million but gave less than $200,000 to the organization. Another effort netted $337,000 for a separate cause and not a cent made it.
Heinen says sometimes these seemingly startling disparities can be explained.
"An organization just starting a capital campaign," he said, "may need some money to really become sustainable and operate. There could be reasons why a lower percentage in the short term is going to direct services."
However, Heinen also says it's up to donors and nonprofits to do their homework.
"When you look from year-to-year, you can see patterns of the different solicitor and I think both from a donor's perspective and a nonprofit's perspective, it's really important to take a look at that."
