This is why I don't give money to charities...

[jkapp]

I prefer to give "things" such as food to food pantries or gifts for Toys for Tots, but I don't just give a check because there's too many assholes in the world like this one:

news.msn.com/us/dollar70000-in-donations-to-sandy-hook-charity-missing

A charity formed after the shooting massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School has been unable to account for more than $70,000 it raised through marathon running, one of its co-founders said Friday...

...Graney said she noticed something was amiss last spring, when she discovered suspicious charges to the foundation's PayPal account.

"I saw there was $1,200 billed for paddle boards," she said. "I went on (Bruce's) Instagram page, and he had posted a picture of a paddle board in the back of his truck."

Graney said she confronted Bruce and he promised to meet her and go over the organization's finances. She said he never showed up and then cut off contact with her in September.

[swamp]

I hope she didn't just drop the matter in September..........

[jkapp]

Mar 10, 2014 9:45:01 GMT -5 swamp said:

I hope she didn't just drop the matter in September..........

No she had contacted the authorities per the article (FBI and others).  They say they are investigating, but who knows?? That probably just means its still an open case, but not necessarily being actively investigated,

[NancysSummerSip]

When I do give money, I check the charity's background on a site like CharityWatch.org, which rates charity organizations on a number of factors, including percentage of funds actually going to those who need them versus how much of the money is used for administrative purposes.

There's no way to stop a rogue member of a charity's board from cheating their bank account, though. Assuming they have access to the money, and the checks and balances are insufficient, the losses can go undetected for months and years. We see these kinds of things in our local paper pretty regularly, involving not only charities, but school funds meant to go to kids' activities. Some low-level school employee or even a parent who is working on the fund collection winds up in financial trouble and starts pilfering small amounts of cash, intending to pay it back, but never does.

[jkapp]

Mar 10, 2014 10:02:02 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

When I do give money, I check the charity's background on a site like CharityWatch.org, which rates charity organizations on a number of factors, including percentage of funds actually going to those who need them versus how much of the money is used for administrative purposes.

There's no way to stop a rogue member of a charity's board from cheating their bank account, though. Assuming they have access to the money, and the checks and balances are insufficient, the losses can go undetected for months and years. We see these kinds of things in our local paper pretty regularly, involving not only charities, but school funds meant to go to kids' activities. Some low-level school employee or even a parent who is working on the fund collection winds up in financial trouble and starts pilfering small amounts of cash, intending to pay it back, but never does.

Yeah, we had a government official taking money from operating funds in a town close by (small town, so very small government office, apparently).  They said she had a gambling problem, but unless it was Indian Casinos, I don't know where she would have been gambling.  I doubt she was buying tens of thousands of dollars worth of lottery tickets, but I guess its possible

[swamp]

Mar 10, 2014 11:47:36 GMT -5 jkapp said:

Mar 10, 2014 10:02:02 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

When I do give money, I check the charity's background on a site like CharityWatch.org, which rates charity organizations on a number of factors, including percentage of funds actually going to those who need them versus how much of the money is used for administrative purposes.

There's no way to stop a rogue member of a charity's board from cheating their bank account, though. Assuming they have access to the money, and the checks and balances are insufficient, the losses can go undetected for months and years. We see these kinds of things in our local paper pretty regularly, involving not only charities, but school funds meant to go to kids' activities. Some low-level school employee or even a parent who is working on the fund collection winds up in financial trouble and starts pilfering small amounts of cash, intending to pay it back, but never does.

Yeah, we had a government official taking money from operating funds in a town close by (small town, so very small government office, apparently).  They said she had a gambling problem, but unless it was Indian Casinos, I don't know where she would have been gambling.  I doubt she was buying tens of thousands of dollars worth of lottery tickets, but I guess its possible

I've seen an embezzlement case where over $200k went to scratch off tickets.   It was over several years, though.

[the flying reindeer]

Mar 10, 2014 11:47:36 GMT -5 jkapp said:

Mar 10, 2014 10:02:02 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

When I do give money, I check the charity's background on a site like CharityWatch.org, which rates charity organizations on a number of factors, including percentage of funds actually going to those who need them versus how much of the money is used for administrative purposes.

There's no way to stop a rogue member of a charity's board from cheating their bank account, though. Assuming they have access to the money, and the checks and balances are insufficient, the losses can go undetected for months and years. We see these kinds of things in our local paper pretty regularly, involving not only charities, but school funds meant to go to kids' activities. Some low-level school employee or even a parent who is working on the fund collection winds up in financial trouble and starts pilfering small amounts of cash, intending to pay it back, but never does.

Yeah, we had a government official taking money from operating funds in a town close by (small town, so very small government office, apparently).  They said she had a gambling problem, but unless it was Indian Casinos, I don't know where she would have been gambling.  I doubt she was buying tens of thousands of dollars worth of lottery tickets, but I guess its possible

There are any number of gambling websites that could easily gobble up her ill-gotten finances.

[the flying reindeer]

About Sandy Hook related charities. I remember reading an article about some low-down scam artist who set up a charity for Sandy Hook victims, collecting thousands of dollars which never went any farther than his own bank account. Eventually he was caught but not before spending a lot of the money.
That's why I only give money to well established charities - Red Cross, Salvation Army, Special Olympics, etc.
BTW according to the charity watchdog, muscular dystrophy is one of the worse for diverting funds donated to administrative costs. At one time, less than 50% of the money collected by the Jerry Lewis telethon actually went to victims or research. It seemed to have a lot of administration to pay for.