Spam Calls
It came to CharityWatch's attention that FEED Foundation had been receiving many negative online comments related to what commenters have referred to as "spam" or robo-calls. Upon further investigation by CharityWatch, it appears that such calls are not legitimate fundraising calls from the FEED Foundation, but are rather the result of a potential scam.
FEED Foundation is a real organization, registered as a 501(c)(3) public charity with the IRS. However, the charity has communicated to CharityWatch and on social media that these fundraising calls are not authorized by the charity and are not legitimate requests for donations.
On its Instagram page at thefeed__foundation the organization posted the following:
"It has come to our attention that robo callers have been fraudulently contacting our community on our behalf. Rest assured we are not at all affiliated with these scammers, nor will we ever call you to solicit funds. We are actively investigating the issue with our legal team. We appreciate your understanding and apologize to anyone who has been fraudulently contacted."
CharityWatch reached out to the FEED Foundation directly for more information. Specifically, we asked the charity the following questions:
Question: Is the FEED Foundation, either directly or through a vendor, making these telemarketing fundraising calls?
Response: “No.”
Question: Did the FEED Foundation hire a professional fundraising company to make such calls?
Response: “No.”
Question: What has the FEED Foundation done (or what is it currently doing) to address all of the complaints related to these telemarketing calls?
“The FEED Foundation is actively investigating this issue with their legal team. We are keeping our community updated on Instagram and have added a banner to our site to help protect our community and donors from falling prey to these scammers. We are regularly in touch with those impacted via email and social media to address all complaints. The Foundation has done everything we can to make clear that we never call to solicit funds and therefore are in no way associated with these scammers & robo callers.”
A Feed Foundation spokesperson also provided the following statement to CharityWatch via email on March 7th, 2024:
"The FEED Foundation's legal team, specifically their cyber security team, has advised that anyone impacted block the calls and report the issue to the relevant authorities via ic3.gov. The Foundation has also spoken with phone companies, legal authorities, and legal experts to ensure we are exploring all possible avenues to combat these scam callers. Unfortunately, this is a rampant issue impacting many organizations, and our legal team's cybersecurity experts have advised we are doing absolutely everything possible to combat the issue."
CharityWatch Rating of FEED Foundation
CharityWatch is unable to provide a rating for FEED Foundation based on its fiscal year ended 12/31/2022 due to the charity's small size. CharityWatch's inability to provide a rating for FEED Foundation at this time does not imply a negative or positive evaluation.
According to its 2022 IRS tax Form 990-EZ, FEED Foundation raised only $83,050 in contributions and reported $15,450 in total expenses in 2022. Of those total expenses, the charity reports spending $1,691 on grants "to provide funding for meals for children in schools in the U.S."
FEED Foundation reports raising just $373,409 in total contributions during the five-year period of 2018 through 2022, which averages to less than $75,000 annually (IRS Form 990, Schedule A, Part II, Section A).
FEED Foundation reports a total of four "Officers, Directors, Trustees, and Key Employees" in its 2022 IRS Tax Form 990-EZ, with each officer or director working an average of between .25 and 2.00 hours per week. Zero compensation is reported for these four individuals.
Lack of Independent Audited Financial Statements
Most charities forego hiring external auditors to produce annual audited financial statements until they reach a size that subjects them to regulations requiring them to do so, such as to satisfy state fundraising regulations, to obtain credit, or for insurance purposes. Audits conducted by Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) can cost thousands of dollars, which is relatively expensive for small charities. The lack of an audit, however, means that a qualified outside party has not subjected the charity's financial reporting to auditing standards that would test the effectiveness of its internal controls and assess whether or not the charity's financial information is fairly presented and free of material misstatements.
As of March 6th, 2024, CharityWatch has been unable to locate fiscal 2022 audited financial statements for FEED Foundation in public databases. We contacted the charity via U.S. mail on March 6th, 2024 to request a copy of its audited financial statements (if available) for fiscal 2022. We may update our information on FEED Foundation if the charity responds to our request.
Economies of Scale
Economies of scale occur when the size of an organization's operations allow it to operate more efficiently. As an organization grows it costs it less (per unit) to produce its goods or services due to its overhead and other fixed costs being spread over a larger volume of output. For example, a small charity that serves 500 poor people per year may need to pay $8,000 for its annual financial audit. A larger charity that serves 3,000 poor people per year may need to pay $10,000 for its annual financial audit. The first charity spent $16 per person served for the overhead cost of its audit, while the second spent far less at only $3.33 per person served.
Charity rating methods suitable for larger organizations often cannot be fairly applied to much smaller charities given that the latter lack the economies of scale necessary to operate at the same level of efficiency. Small charities that assist underserved populations, that are fulfilling an unmet need, or that are new or in the process of scaling up to a larger size may still be worthy of donors' support.
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