Gaia-Movement Living Earth Green World Action USA

CharityWatch's determination of the Program % and Cost to Raise $100 for Gaia-Movement Living Earth Green World Action USA (Gaia) for the year 2024 includes the reallocation of $953,391 in "reuse and recycle" expenses from program services to fundraising expenses. Gaia considers the costs associated with collecting and processing donated clothing, shoes, and other textiles to be a recycling program expense in support of its effort to divert the items from landfills, as described in Part III of its 2024 IRS Form 990 tax filing.

In CharityWatch's opinion, these recycling expenses should be considered fundraising expenses for reasons that include: (1) Gaia raised almost all of its funds in 2024 by selling the donated textiles it collected rather than giving the items to needy people; (2) CharityWatch believes that the cost to collect donations of used goods for later sale is a fundraising expense, not a program expense; and (3) there are many nonprofit and for-profit organizations that compete for clothing donations, thereby minimizing the chances such items otherwise would end up in a landfill if Gaia had not collected them. 

For a more detailed explanation, read Gaia-Movement Living Earth's "Recycling" Program, Debunked!