In 2012, we are celebrating the 20-year anniversary
of the American Institute of Philanthropy (AIP). With this
significant milestone, we're happy to announce we will now be known
as CharityWatch—a name that better reflects our role
as the independent, assertive charity watchdog you rely on to expose
abuses and advocate for your interests as a donor.
The Chronicle of Philanthropy
published several of our triumphs in an in-depth profile of CharityWatch
& our president Daniel Borochoff: An
MBA's Sleuthing Skills Puts Charities on the Hot Seat. The linked
article begins in the lower right column of the first page.
The extremely violent Syrian conflicts that began in March
2011 have claimed the lives of more than 60,000 people so far. Approximately 4 million
Syrians are in need of emergency assistance. As of early 2013, the violence has displaced more than 2
million people within Syria. More than 650,000 Syrians have fled to nearby
Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon. The number of refugees is expected to continue
to increase rapidly and overwhelm social service providers in those neighboring countries.
CharityWatch announces its top-rated list of charities involved in efforts to provide emergency humanitarian relief
to the people of Syria.
Find out how you can help.
Recovery efforts are underway in hard-hit areas of the East Coast
of the United States, Haiti, and other parts of the Caribbean.
Donors should find out what specific roles a charity has in the relief and
recovery efforts before donating.
When people hear about the tens of billions of dollars in damages, they need to be aware that
much of that will be paid for by government and private insurance. The role of charity
is to cover what these larger players don't.
CharityWatch announces its top-rated list of charities involved in efforts to provide relief
to victims of Superstorm Sandy, domestically and/or in the Caribbean.
Find out how you can help.
Lance Armstrong Scandal & Livestrong
In response to the US Anti-Doping Agency's October 2012 report implicating Lance Armstrong at the center
of a doping scandal, CharityWatch President Daniel Borochoff called for Armstrong to step down from his prominent
position at Livestrong Foundation, the highly-efficient cancer charity he founded.
A week later, Armstrong announced that he would step down
from his role as chairman. Mr. Borochoff spoke to trust issues related to the charity's image being so closely tied to the persona
of its founder. Read more.
Help Hospitalized Veterans (HHV), which earns
an F rating from CharityWatch, is being sued
by California's Attorney General. The lawsuit seeks to recover
$4.3 million in allegedly diverted funds and to remove this charity's
board of directors. The AG shares CharityWatch's long held position
that HHV uses accounting gimmicks to inflate the amount of contributions
it reports spent on program services to help veterans.
ABC News coverage provides some context for the allegations.
CharityWatch has been critical of HHV for years:
In April 2012, a fugitive using the alias
"Bobby Thompson" was arrested in Oregon & is now jailed in Ohio
facing charges of corruption, theft, and money laundering related
to a sham charity he used to steal millions of dollars in donations
intended to help veterans. On October 1, 2012, the US Marshalls
Office revealed the true identity of "Bobby Thompson" to be John
Donald Cody. Cody is a former military intelligence officer who
has been on the FBI's wanted list since 1987 on charges of fraud
and espionage.
Slowly developing crises like droughts don't attract
the media attention or contributions that earthquakes and tsunamis
can, even when the number of people in need is greater. Find
out how you can help!
VSO earns an F rating from CharityWatch.
The group claims to have no fundraising costs on its audit and tax
form for fiscal 2010, yet raised over $5.6 million in contributions.
Despite what VSO reported on its financial documents, CharityWatch
believes that it incurred nearly $4 million in fundraising costs
that were reported as "On-the-job training programs" on its tax
form. VSO's "program" does not help unemployed veterans obtain useful
skills, such as computer programming, carpentry or nursing, to help
them to obtain gainful employment. But the "program" does help VSO
raise money for itself by turning veterans into street solicitors,
who are instructed to keep 30% of what they raise. CharityWatch
believes that the cost of hiring fundraisers should be reported
as a fundraising expense regardless of who is doing the fundraising.
CharityWatch is keeping CNN's investigative
reporters informed about veterans charities which spend millions
to enrich fundraisers, and not much to help veterans. Check out
this video and article
to learn about similarities between two F rated groups, the National
Veterans Foundation and the Disabled Veterans National Foundation.
**Update: Haiti
Cholera Epidemic Expected to Worsen **
Help
provide relief to Haiti's earthquake & cholera victims.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake shook Haiti in January 2010. The quake
collapsed buildings in capital Port-au-Prince, caused more than
two hundred thousand deaths, thousands of injuries, and left more
than a million people homeless. Since October 2010, a deadly cholera
epidemic has swept the vulnerable Haitian population. Heavy rains
in the spring and tropical storms in the summer are expected to
trigger spikes in cholera cases and related deaths.
Find out how you can help.
What is the Breast
Cancer Society really doing to help cancer patients?
CharityWatch informs investigative reporters
on the Breast Cancer Society's skimpy program spending. Watch
the video below or read
this article to find out how the group uses in-kind donations
to appear efficient without spending much on charitable programs.
"Not
So" Great Nonprofits and Think!
Before You JustGive
In these new articles, CharityWatch sizes up two popular charity
review websites. Find out what to be wary of when choosing sources
for charity information.
**
Update: Greg Mortenson, Central Asia Institute **
April 2012 Montana Attorney General
announces a settlement
agreement requiring Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups
of Tea, to pay more than $1 million in restitution for financial
wrongdoing at the charity he founded, Central Asia Institute.
The very same three person board, which includes Greg Mortenson
and is responsible for the mismanagement of CAI, is empowered with
selecting its replacement board, according to the settlement reached
with the Montana Attorney General. Read the CharityWatch
article that sparked the investigation, and listen
to Daniel Borochoff discuss the settlement agreement on NPR.
For Borochoff's comments on how the nonprofit sector could be affected
by shortcomings in the AG's settlement, read
this AP article.
In
a follow-up interview on MSNBC, CharityWatch President Daniel
Borochoff details some of the accountability issues at Central Asia
Institute.
With
PBS Newshour, Daniel Borochoff discusses important questions
that Mortenson and CAI have still not answered.
Byliner, the publisher of Jon Krakauer's 75 page article Three
Cups of Deceit: How Greg Mortenson, Humanitarian Hero, Lost His
Way, has made the
article available at amazon.com.
**
CharityWatch responds to questions about the charity behind Kony2012
**
In the short video below, CharityWatch President Daniel
Borochoff discusses what the public might not realize about the
finances of Invisible Children—the charity behind the Kony2012
viral video.
For CharityWatch commentary on the effects of recent controversy
at Susan G. Komen for the Cure, read these two articles from
The New York Times:
See the Top 25 Compensation Packages of charity
officers, directors, trustees, and key employees.
For details about one charity executive's unusual compensation package,
read Eye-Popping
Pay.
CharityWatch is calling for the IRS to start requiring
charities to shine light on their international grants. Under current
reporting rules nonprofits are allowed to conceal the organizational
names of their international grantees on their mandatory public
disclosure report, the IRS form 990. This omission is making it
too easy for charities to exaggerate their work and mislead the
American public. As a world humanitarian leader, it is essential
that the United States require its nonprofit international aid organizations
to be transparent and accountable. Read
our plea to the IRS.
The Best Way to Support
Relief Efforts in East Africa. Countries in the Horn of Africa
are still in need of help following the recent severe drought in
the region and famine in Somalia. Countries in the region also affected
by a food crisis include Djibouti, South Sudan, Sudan, and Uganda.
Find out how you can help!
Flooding
in Pakistan
Two months of heavy rain and severe flooding in Pakistan has devastated
the population, with a death toll surpassing 1,800 and more than
twelve million people in need of immediate assistance. Find
out how you can help.
Indonesia Relief
CharityWatch announces its Top-Rated list of charities currently offering
services to the victims of the recent earthquake and tsunami, and
volcanic eruptions that struck in Indonesia. Find
out how you can help.
NPR's Talk of the Nation featured CharityWatch President
Daniel Borochoff discussing challenges in getting aid to victims
of Pakistan's flood.
Click this link to listen.
Mr. Borochoff was also interviewed on the radio program The World
for a segment on Haiti
versus Pakistan Aid Response, highlighting the enormous scale
of the Pakistan disaster, and the lack of sufficient aid money to
the region.
In
this interview CharityWatch Analyst Laurie Styron explains that
Defeat Diabetes Foundation receives an F rating for spending
more on fundraising than on charitable programs. Watch
Here.
CharityWatch Analyst Laurie Styron reveals the
high fundraising costs of F rated group American Association
of State Troopers. Watch
Here.
CharityWatch
Analyst Laurie Styron speaks to Fox Tampa Bay's investigative news
team about unusual fundraising expenditures at F rated Kids Wish
Network. Watch
Here.
In
this video clip, CharityWatch Analyst Laurie Styron informs Fox
Tampa Bay that the CharityWatch F rated group, Children's Charity
Fund, also known as A Child's Wish Foundation, has not
kept its promise to become a more efficient charity. Watch
Here.
On
CNBC, CharityWatch President Daniel Borochoff debunks the idea that
pledges by billionaires, such as Gates and Buffett, to give half
of their wealth to charity would somehow hurt the economy. Watch
Here.
Gulf Oil Spill Disaster
The Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion of April 20, 2010 has resulted
in the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Millions of gallons of
oil have polluted the Gulf of Mexico. Coastal ecosystems and the
fish, birds and people that depend on these formerly pristine areas
for their livelihoods have been seriously harmed. What
to consider before donating to help.
Daniel Borochoff, CharityWatch president, informed a national news
investigation revealing Feed the Children's false claims
related to Haiti relief. For more information on recent and past
controversies involving Feed the Children, read
these articles.
Hurricane Relief Five years after
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated Gulf coast communities, Daniel
Borochoff marked the anniversary by calling attention to top-rated
charities still serving victims of those disasters.
NPR's
Talk of the Nation featured CharityWatch President Daniel
Borochoff discussing Reliable
Ways to Donate Money to Haiti Effort. Click on the link to listen,
or read a transcript of the conversation.
On the African-American Public Radio Consortium's UpFront with
Tony Cox, Mr. Borochoff offers guidance for donating to Charities
for Haiti Relief. To listen, follow the link and click on the
first item in the radio player on the left side of the page.
Listen to two radio interviews featuring CharityWatch
President Daniel Borochoff. As a guest on NPR's Tell Me More,
Mr. Borochoff discusses Making
The Most Of Charitable Dollars. On the BBC's Business DailyCharities
Under Pressure Mr. Borochoff offers insight as to how the economic
downturn is impacting the work of charities.
CharityWatch President Daniel Borochoff discusses on national TV
the charity fallout from the Madoff Ponzi scheme and precautions
donors can take when considering donating to charities that may
be holding highly risky and even fraudulent investments. Watch
Here.
Help Provide Relief for the People of the Democratic Republic of
Congo
Renewed fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has left
over 1 million people displaced. With militiamen burning down some
of the temporary housing, many are going without food and shelter
as they attempt to avoid the worst areas of conflict. As the crisis
worsens, humanitarian organizations are stepping in to provide assistance
to the victims of this catastrophe. See the CharityWatch list of
Top-Rated organizations providing relief in the DRC to find
out how you can help.
Help with Sudan Refugee Relief. The growing
international attention to the crisis in Darfur has failed to alleviate
the large-scale violence. The janjaweed militias continue to terrorize
civilians and underfunded African Union troops have been unable to
maintain peace. Up to 3 million people have been displaced since the
fighting began in 2003.
F Rated Charities
Awarded Best in America Seal
Ubiquitous on charity web sites is a ribbon-style seal that in large
type reads "BEST IN AMERICA," features five stars across
the top edge, and indicates that the charity awarded the seal is
"certified by Independent Charities of America"
(ICA). Many donors may view such a seal as a reflection of how efficiently
a particular charity will use their donations, and assume that it
represents an independent endorsement of a charity from an outside
organization. While ICA may refer to its member charities as "Best
in America," some donors may be disappointed to learn that
ICA is funded by the very charities that use its seal, and that
ICA generally does not screen charities for financial efficiency.
Read more...
Help Provide Relief for the People of Afghanistan
Thirty years of war have left Afghanistan one of the least developed
and most dangerous countries in the world, and yet a recent study
shows that some 40 percent of reconstruction and relief assistance
provided since 2001 has been returned to donor countries in the
form of corporate profits and consultant salaries. See the CharityWatch
list of Top-Rated charities providing relief in Afghanistan to find
out how you can help.
Watch CharityWatch president’s speech on how
to watchdog charities at Society of Professional Journalists’
2005 National Conference. (Requires Quick
Time .)
CharityWatch
president's congressional testimony on
the charities’ response to the 9/11 terrorist attack.
Should we hand out cash to people on the street? Listen to some pros
and cons on NPR segment with “Mr. Dollars” and AIP’s
president. (Requires Real
Player or Windows
Media Player.)
CharityWatch article 
Watch
NPR's Talk of the Nation featured CharityWatch President
Daniel Borochoff discussing challenges in getting aid to victims
of Pakistan's flood. 
On
CNBC, CharityWatch President Daniel Borochoff debunks the idea that
pledges by billionaires, such as Gates and Buffett, to give half
of their wealth to charity would somehow hurt the economy. 
Daniel Borochoff, CharityWatch president, informed a national news
investigation revealing Feed the Children's false claims
related to Haiti relief. For more information on recent and past
controversies involving Feed the Children, 
See
CharityWatch President Daniel Borochoff discusses on national TV
the charity fallout from the Madoff Ponzi scheme and precautions
donors can take when considering donating to charities that may
be holding highly risky and even fraudulent investments. 
Help Your Fellow Americans During This Time of Economic Crisis
Help Provide Relief for the People of the Democratic Republic of
Congo 
Help Provide Relief for the People of Afghanistan
CharityWatch Efforts to Hold Veterans Charities Accountable Featured
on National Network TV
Watch
TV Coverage of CharityWatch's F Rating of the Military Order
of the Purple Heart Service Foundation
