Charity Inc.

Billboards of hungry faces line the highways.

Television ads flicker with images of the tired, the hungry and the hopeless.

Ads in the newspaper extoll readers to give, give, give.

They want your sympathy and they want your money. Donate a dollar. Feed the poor on a dollar. Feel good. Give money. Feel good again when you get a tax break. (Where can you feed anyone for a $1.00?)

It’s that time of year when charities launch their advertising blitz to collect donations of food, clothes and, most importantly, money.

For every dollar charities collect, think how much they spend in advertising on billboards, newspaper ads and television commercials. I doubt that they spend 50 cents on advertising for every dollar they collect; I suspect the reverse is true. I suspect charities spend more on advertising to collect money than they collect in money.

Charities have always enjoyed a certain soft spot in the American mind. We pride ourselves on our selfless and generous character. We are generous people, we say to ourselves. But charities are a sub-culture of an American culture consumed with consumerism, especially with those special tax breaks.

This isn’t new, but the explosion in charities asking for your heart and soul and pocket book has exploded in recent years.

If a stock exchange for charities existed, it might edge the New York Stock Exchange for daily trading volume.

The Urban Institute, a Washington DC fish tank, found that the number of nonprofits grew by 25 percent between 2001 and 2011, from 1.26 million to 1.6 million.

“The growth rate of the nonprofit sector has surpassed the rate of both the business and government sectors,” the Institute said.

In 2010, nonprofits contributed products and services that added $779 billion to the nation’s gross domestic product or 5.4 percent of GDP, the Institute said.

According to the National Center for Charitable statistics, there are 931 registered public charities, private foundations and other tax exempt organizations in Norfolk while Virginia Beach is home to a 1,000.

Reference List for those seeking more information.  

Urban Institute
National Center for Charitable Statistics  

Charity Navigator

Urban Institute Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy 


News to Use

America’sTop 50 charities: How do they rate?

Christian Science Monitor  

America’s Worst Charities
Tampa Bay Times