[kcvl]

illustrate the work it does around the world to help impoverished people feed themselves.

They may need to start helping the 'impoverished people feed themselves' HERE if Obama keeps up with his policies!

[Constitution Day]

I thought this was a thread about Meghan McCain opening a museum in Little Rock.

Don’t mind me, I’m moving along now...

;^)

[GraceG]

An Obama Spokescreature asked about Heifer International said this: “ Heifer international is causing global warming by moving the cows producing methane to 3rd world nations forcing the people there to suffer.”

[chae]

Our church does alot with Heifer International. They do people alot of good.

[OB1kNOb]

We visited the headquarters last weekend, but didn’t have time to see the Heifer Village. I’ve stayed at their old headquarters facilities in years past and really came to admire what they do, which is not to give people fish, but to teach them how to fish with the resources they have available. It’s one of the few international organizations I would consider providing resources and time to support.

[Habibi]

“Heifer International has opened a $7.5 million museum.......the organization says its fundraising has slowed due to the recession and it recently announced layoffs of 20 percent of its U.S. staff, 68 people.”

GASP! What in the world is the non-profit organization thinking? Something is not right with that board. $7.5X10e6 would go towards a LOT of cows in the third world.

I have a feeling that Heifer International is being profligate with other folks money, if they're opening a $7.5 mil museum and laying off 20% of its US staff.

This is a common problem with 501c3’s. Anyone can review the IRS Form 990 that they file every year. When researching potential donees for foundation grants, it is not uncommon to find nonprofits that spend 80-90% of their funds on administrative expenses (salaries, executive perks, benefits etc.), with only 10-20% actually going to the charitable cause they claim to represent.

I'm not saying that Heifer International is doing this (I haven't seen their 990), but dumping that much dough into a museum, while they're laying off a fifth of their workforce would cause me to go take a look at their ratios, if I was evaluating a potential contribution.

Always, always, research how a charity spends your money before you make the contribution. You'll often be surprised by how little of your contribution makes it to the actual target.