Flatbush Life reports:
A handful of Brooklyn-based charities are concerned more about their own bottom line than they are about those who may have hit rock bottom, according to an independent charity evaluating organization.
The group, Charity Navigator, recently released ratings for some 5,000 large charities nationwide.
Thirty-eight Brooklyn charities made the list, which assigns efficiency ratings from four stars, awarded to the most efficient, to zero stars, to those performing far below industry standards.
Four Brooklyn charities received zero stars, including: Heritage for the Blind; National Children’s Leukemia Foundation; Yad L’Achim Peyle Israel; and Zichron Shlome Refuah Fund.… [I'm told all but the National Children's Lukemia Foundation are haredi organizations.]
The stated goal of Zichron Shlome Refuah Fund, located at 1319 51st Street, is to help children and adults stricken with cancer.
According to Charity Navigator, which uses publicly available information to make its determinations, Zichron Shlome had a total revenue of $976,600 in fiscal year ending December 2005. Meanwhile, it spent $338,667 on program services, and nearly equal that on its own administrative expenses, $311,979. The group’s fundraising expenses totaled $359,003.
That same year, Heritage for the Blind, 2071 Flatbush Avenue, had a total revenue of $2,400,386 and spent $495,133 on program expenses, close to $1 million on administrative costs and $1.8 million on fundraising, according to Charity Navigator.
“Heritage for the Blind spent 15 percent of its budget on its programs. Most [charities] spend 75 percent or more,” Miniutti noted.
Of its $1,506,879 in total revenue for the fiscal year ending March 2006, the National Children’s Leukemia Foundation, 7316 Avenue U, spent $153,166 on program expenses, $153,320 on administration, and close to $1.2 million on fundraising, according to the website.
Yad L’Achim Peyle Israel, 172 1/2 Lee Avenue, whose mission is to promote Orthodox Jewish observances, listed a total revenue of $985,181 for the fiscal year ending October 2005. Of that, it used $539,243 on programs, $126,764 on expenses and $271,846 on fundraising.
At press time, calls to all four zero star charities were not returned.…
Just six Brooklyn charities received four stars. Those charities included: American Friends of Yad Eliezer; Ezer Mizion; Mesorah Heritage Foundation;…
I would note that, of the three haredi 4 star charities, one, the Mesorah Heritage Foundation, is a sister company of ArtScroll. I wonder how good Mesorah would look if ArtScroll's books were open for inspection, side by side? Perhaps a star or two would be removed?
Charity Navigator shows us how much money ArtScroll-Mesorah's top two rabbis made in 2004. Please sit down before reading this:
Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz $63,600 $380,794 $444, 394
Rabbi Nosson Scherman $159,000 $132,273 $291,273
The first column is money paid by the Mesorah Heritage Foundation, the second is money paid by ArtScroll and other affiliated companies. The third bolded column is the total amount paid to each.
The Mesorah Heritage Foundation has quite a bankroll, as well – it has net assets of $6,181,266. It also may be that ArtScroll uses the Mesorah Heritage Foundation to pay much of its help – translators, graphic artists and the like – which Mesorah counts as progaraming expenses. I wonder if ArtScroll would open its books to scrutiny?
On the other hand, Ezer Mizion has a sterling reputation, and deserves your support.
Related haredi charity malfeasance can be seen here.