I have personal experience working in NGOs in Africa.

some orgs exist to collect money, and thats all.

some do great work, but waste an incredible amount of money on overhead. the UNDP is a great example of this.

some orgs do great work and have low overheads, but still end up wasting money and effort through duplication....they generally do a terrible job of communicating/coordinating with eachother, and one gets several orgs attempting to do similar things. its confusing for both donors and the people you are trying to help.

some orgs start projects and almost never finish, which was the situation that I experienced personally.

overall, my opinion on NGOs/Charities: the ideas are generally great, but the project management and internal controls are horrendous.

RedPhoenix122: violentsalvation: I hope not. the VA does not do enough for you guys. It isn't all hero worship. Sometimes a thanks is just a thanks, you went and you did what you do, and you gave much more than your fair share. It is a thanks that I don't want to be tax-deductible. It is recognition that you got screwed and continue to get screwed.

Nothing like an HR manager looking at you like you're a ticking time bomb.

Tell me about it.

Fox News, speaking on behalf of all veterans, told me they were tough and don't need charity or the stupid president of the United States passing laws against sham companies that take money from veterans.

Anyone that gives a shiat about veterans is a commie Muslim Socialist!

Mock26: Ghastly: This is truly horrible. Why have I not heard about coconut M&Ms before now?

Sigh. I will more than likely get in trouble for this, but since the cat is out of the bag it should not matter. We were told not to tell you, Ghastly. It is nothing personal, but because you are, well, rather ghastly. Sorry, pal.

Should we tell him about the pretzel m&m's? He's gonna flip if he didn't already know about them.

JRoo: Fox News, speaking on behalf of all veterans, told me they were tough and don't need charity or the stupid president of the United States passing laws against sham companies that take money from veterans.

Anyone that gives a shiat about veterans is a commie Muslim Socialist!

You're a farking credulous idiot.

Interesting. These guys actually called me the other day (Sunday -- not sure if legal or not), caught me when I was juggling two kids, gardening, and trying to make lunch. Asked for one person, nope, overseas. Assumed I was another, nope, unavailable, may I take a message? Identified the "company", begged me not to hang up, then tried to get chatty about the weekend, the weather... I asked if I could help the guy, since I really needed to get back to what I was doing. He snarled "Jeebus Xhrist! G0d bless Amurrika!"... and I hung up, since I don't like being sworn at.

Thing is, I usually help charities that call for donations of material stuff and I couldn't tell if this was one of those at first. After that incident, I'm not surprised to see this article.

/CSSis?
//Probably not

AtlanticCoast63: RedPhoenix122: violentsalvation: I hope not. the VA does not do enough for you guys. It isn't all hero worship. Sometimes a thanks is just a thanks, you went and you did what you do, and you gave much more than your fair share. It is a thanks that I don't want to be tax-deductible. It is recognition that you got screwed and continue to get screwed.

Nothing like an HR manager looking at you like you're a ticking time bomb.

Tell me about it.

You have to get hired first to be stared at by an HR manager.

/sigh

You're doing it wrong. Send 1'000'000 of these.

cman: I hope that more vet organizations have bullshiat like this under their shirt.

/Hero worship of soldiers and vets is excessive in our country

fark YOU biatch.....that is all.

So how is it that health insurance companies can only use 20% for administrative costs with the rest going to services but a charity can use 100%+ for administrative costs and give nothing in services? Is the charity lobby really big enough to pay of the politicians better than the health insurance industry?

HakunaMatata: So a marketing company found a way to unload all the excess goods that they failed to market successfully, get paid for them, and write them off as charitable donations?

Wish i could say i'm surprised but the financial world - including marketers/advertisers - are populated by the scum of the earth from the top down.

Time to dust the cobwebs off those guillotines!

Let's start with the politicians that help and protect these people for personal gain. They're even lower on the nobility scale. How many well connected people got wealthy(er) by being involved in the Iraq scams?

I stopped giving to charities a long time ago because I heard similar stories about the local "veterans aid" chumps... Took in like $750k at the time, but spent $850-900k for marketing, salaries and more... The vets got $20,000 or so...

Non profit my ass...

Put the b*tch in jail or take her out and shoot her one, just get her the flying f*ck out of the general population. Her VFW web page Link

grimeystubs: So how is it that health insurance companies can only use 20% for administrative costs with the rest going to services but a charity can use 100%+ for administrative costs and give nothing in services? Is the charity lobby really big enough to pay of the politicians better than the health insurance industry?

Charity doesn't need a lobby. Everyone likes charity!

Not like those mean old health insurers whom everyone hates.

It's like asking why we don't eat kittens or puppies instead of pigs and chickens.

Little.Alex: cman: Little.Alex: Not at all a cool story, and you are not my bro:

I once was seated next to some Austrian guy on a long international flight. We got to
A random dude you didnt know told you about massive aid fraud and you took it as bible? Thats kinda like getting a FWD: FWD: FWD: FWD: FWD: FWD: OBAMA A MISLIN in your mailbox

Well actually that's a very abbreviated bit of the story. What really happened was (trying to keep it short)

Met Austrian guy flying from Vienna to Washington.
He and I start drinking on the flight.
He told me who he worked for.

I told him, that I had once been part of a software startup, that had contracted to do a bunch of work for the World Bank -his employer.

( Insert wavy flashback special effect. )

We were all but bankrupt right after 911, and took an $8 million dollar contract to write a bidding and grant tracking system for the WBIDA. We thought our company was saved. The only hitch was, it was mentioned to us that the legal fees for setting up the contract for the software development had to come out of our end.

But who cares, when you can't make payroll, about $1 or $2 thousand in legal fees? Naturally we took the deal. What else could we do? We couldn't make payroll, and had already skipped one payday.

And the Washington and New York attorneys gave us a 4 page, boiler plate document, and charged us $7,980,000 of the $8 million. We received a check for 20 thousand. We went bankrupt.

And before I could finish telling him that story, as soon as I mentioned the lawyers, he started laughing his head off. And finished the story for me, "so they gave you what? five thousand, ten thousand of the 8 million? Certainly! Bwahahahahaha

Listen, you look for a bankrupt company. You launder the money that way. If any auditor looks - he'll find a dead end. and the WB can say, 'hey, we tried to better monitor where all that money goes, but the software company went bankrupt and never delivered' And of course, the lawyers gave money back to the guys at WB who set it all up, and it cannot be audited and everybody wins. "

Then I asked him about aid money, please insert previous post here.

So that's why I believed him. Because I personally lost about $1.6 mil when we went bankrupt, after getting suckered by a scam thru the World Bank.

But don't ever let any of that diminish your belief in International Charities, or Big Government. Everyone in those organisations is completely selfless, and working to help others.

Dude, thanks for sharing but I gotta say I don't buy it.

Anyway, how are you out $1.6m? The world bank gave $8m, $7.98m was supposedly stolen, and $20k went to your company. Did you actually complete the project?

Here in Canada, some charities have been losing their tax-free status when they use large sums of money to employ marketing firms or private donation collection companies. In some extreme cases where a private donation company is used, the charity only collects as little as 1%. They also have a history of harassing people into donating over the phone by pleading with people and making them feel guilty.

joeyjoejoeshabado: cman: I hope that more vet organizations have bullshiat like this under their shirt.

/Hero worship of soldiers and vets is excessive in our country

ha, it's funny because it's true as my buddies and I say "Honorable Discharge does not make you an Honorable Person."

I can't even count the number of guys I know from the Army and mainly the National Guard that believe the VA is just a system for free money, hell one asshole spent his last 6 months at drill walking around with a farking cane and could barely move above a speed reserved for 90 year old men. but guess who was back to running 5K's and 10K's only 4 short month laters after being medically discharged and drawing 80% disability for his mystery backitis that was magically cleared up by a chiropractor upon being discharged.

My favorite was the kid that tried the exact same thing but was even too lazy to go to his doctors apointments and get what was "wrong" with him documented or really even treated, so when it came time to discharge him he was to recieve no disability and showed up saying he was 100% cured and could stay in now after spending the last 9 months trying to get some sort of disability rating.

OK, I think i am done ranting now

That's sad, dude. Probably a unit-culture thing...my old Reserve unit was pretty squared away, and since it was a combat field hospital, not a lot of tolerance for people who weren't REALLY sick.

herrDrFarkenstein: [prosites-lottofun9.homestead.com image 524x378]

You're doing it wrong. Send 1'000'000 of these.

I have to laugh at the "Pray for our troops" ribbon... It's like having something that promotes doing something which is actually accomplishing nothing yet feels like something... And being proud about it.

/gotta be a "yo dog" joke in there somewhere

Debeo Summa Credo: Little.Alex: cman: Little.Alex: Not at all a cool story, and you are not my bro:


Anyway, how are you out $1.6m? The world bank gave $8m, $7.98m was supposedly stolen, and $20k went to your company. Did you actually complete the project?


We went belly up before we could IPO. My stake in the company was about $1.6 large, if we had gotten out the door.

After 911, our funding partners (G.E. and the Allianz Insurance Group ) cut off our cash/ our drawing account - along with all the other internet startups they were invested in.

We were offering a new type of financial product to do fund raising online for exceptionally risky investments; the kind of investments that only qualified investors can get in on. For some things; you have to already be a millionaire to legally invest in them. Very profitable, but very risky. Those markets are highly informal. For example, if you want money to make a movie, you just start calling well healed people. Same rules for pre-IPO financing and oil exploration and a few other things. (Look up Regulation D under the SEC, definition of an Accredited Investor.)

Our plan was to get in touch with 30,000 or so millionaires (Accredited Investors), create an online bidding and haggling engine, get legal approval from the SEC, and then when people wanted money for a movie or an oil rig - they could come to us. We'd present the deal to our audience, raise the cash, pinch off a bit, and fund their project. It couldn't be as simple as E-bay, because that kind of money comes with strings. "I want a board seat" "I want script approval" "I want my own geologist"... depending on the kind of business. combine bidding, haggling, fund raising.

We had no trouble finding millionaires. G.E. and Allianz put us in touch with all their executives World Wide, and their friends, and we had a great audience of investors all across Europe and America.

But waiting for the SEC, and finishing our software... 911 happened. We suddenly couldn't pay employees. They still showed up for about 6 weeks, but that can only last so long. When that 3rd payday goes by with no check... It's been great working with you.

Early in that period, someone got in touch with the WB folks. WB was being leaned on to account to donor governments for what *exactly* was happening to all that aid money and those loans. We were going to modify our stuff to track which group was applying for how much to accomplish what. Similar to our original software, but the money would be flowing out, not in.

So we stopped looking for other funding sources - we thought the problem was solved. And by the time we realized that we'd been used as part of a scam, the techies were stealing hardware from our server room and selling it. Not that I blame them.


It's 9:30 in Korea, so I'm going to bed. (I am now an expat.) Have a pleasant evening.

Personally, my wife and I have both received nothing but the best of care from the VA. I know that others have had bad experiences, but the story usually involves a Korea or Vietnam vet coming in after 50+ years wanting to know when he'll start getting checks. Either that, or asshats with "backitis" or "kneeitis", milking the system.

My wife worked with a guy who just completed his MBA at U of M, he's 80% disabled, and his ENTIRE education was covered by Uncle Sam. He was a National Guard guy who was undeployable because of food allergies, and he claimed to have blown out a knee while running while on drill. And folks wonder why guys who stood tall in Hell think there's something wrong with the system?

As for the d-bags who run this charity, and their "marketing" firm, I say we sentence them to scrubbing bedpans at Walter Reed, until they die of old age.

Harry Freakstorm: I was looking at the web page. Where does it show how/when she served?

More bio on the thieving b*tch. Link
She turned a three year hitch into a lifetime of scam.

Gwendolyn:
They are closing Walter Reed. In fact a lot of it is empty now.

I hadn't heard.

Good riddance, the place was a shiat hole when I was there in the 90s.

Their FB page is getting shelled.
DVNF FB(pops)

I like this charity near me for disabled vets. Paws and Stripes.

Paws and Stripes™ is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization for wounded veterans of our United States military that works to provide service dogs for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury. The service dogs are obtained only from shelters, and are trained by professionals specializing in service dogs. It is the aim of this organization to provide these dogs and training for no cost to the veteran.

Link(pop)

FlyingLizardOfDoom: Excerpt from the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition: 144) There's nothing wrong with charity ... as long as it winds up in your pocket.

Plus three internets. 1 point for using a Startrek based comment. 1 point for it being Ferengi. And 1 point for doing the previous 2 acts before anyone else.commented.

Lmao!

Ambivalence: OMG is there really such a thing as coconut M&Ms?

Yes. They're delicious, though not nearly as good as the cherry ones.

Old enough to know better: Its gotten to the point where I rarely give to charity anymore just because of the sheer number of these groups who're either lining their pockets, or run by a bunch of fundies

I am with you on this one. All of my charity is done personally. I see someone needing help, I see what they need, it I can help I do. Much better then writing a check to the Red Cross.

umcor.org not only has one of the highest charity ratings, but even though they are associated with a church (the Methodists) they SPECIFICALLY prohibit including any personal notes, Bibles, patriotic symbols, Chick tracts, etc in any packages sent.

Their only mission is to help people, not give Bibles to the starving or force people to convert for a handful of rice. Methodists are pretty cool that way.

Gwendolyn:
They are closing Walter Reed. In fact a lot of it is empty ow.

The old Walter Reed on Georgia Ave. is closed. Bethesda is now the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

I only give to the Human Fund.

Little.Alex: Debeo Summa Credo: Little.Alex: cman: Little.Alex: Not at all a cool story, and you are not my bro:


Anyway, how are you out $1.6m? The world bank gave $8m, $7.98m was supposedly stolen, and $20k went to your company. Did you actually complete the project?


We went belly up before we could IPO. My stake in the company was about $1.6 large, if we had gotten out the door.

After 911, our funding partners (G.E. and the Allianz Insurance Group ) cut off our cash/ our drawing account - along with all the other internet startups they were invested in.

We were offering a new type of financial product to do fund raising online for exceptionally risky investments; the kind of investments that only qualified investors can get in on. For some things; you have to already be a millionaire to legally invest in them. Very profitable, but very risky. Those markets are highly informal. For example, if you want money to make a movie, you just start calling well healed people. Same rules for pre-IPO financing and oil exploration and a few other things. (Look up Regulation D under the SEC, definition of an Accredited Investor.)

Our plan was to get in touch with 30,000 or so millionaires (Accredited Investors), create an online bidding and haggling engine, get legal approval from the SEC, and then when people wanted money for a movie or an oil rig - they could come to us. We'd present the deal to our audience, raise the cash, pinch off a bit, and fund their project. It couldn't be as simple as E-bay, because that kind of money comes with strings. "I want a board seat" "I want script approval" "I want my own geologist"... depending on the kind of business. combine bidding, haggling, fund raising.

We had no trouble finding millionaires. G.E. and Allianz put us in touch with all their executives World Wide, and their friends, and we had a great audience of investors all across Europe and America.

But waiting for the SEC, and finishing our software... 911 happened. We suddenly couldn' ...

Okay, the details admittedly give you credibility, but you have to admit it's pretty crazy that the World Bank operates essentially like a nigerian prince scam and it hasn't been exposed/shut down by any of the member states that fund the world bank.

Also, not to nitpick, but you were going bankrupt before you got the call from WB. So your stake in your company was worth $0 before they entered the picture, nothing lost to them by you except embarrassment/effort.

Hey, there was actual investigative journalism in that article. I had forgotten what it looked like.

/Mmm, coconut M&M's

Cubansaltyballs: Is this the same veterans scam group Sean Hannity has been milking?

I'm pretty sure that Hanity is screwing over veterans with Freedom Alliance. Sean's veterans charity only spends between 7%-20% annually on vets...the rest is administrative, consulting, etc.

Little.Alex: Old enough to know better: Its gotten to the point where I rarely give to charity anymore just because of the sheer number of these groups who're either lining their pockets, or run by a bunch of fundies


If your goal is to help people: the Fundies are exactly who you should give to.

Nobody gives a higher percentage of the take to the poor than the Salvation Army.

The Salvation Army charges the people they help. I stayed for a while at a Salvation Army shelter for veterans, they charged me 30% of my disability income for a bed in a dormitory.
The Salvation Army can kiss my farking ass.

"More than 30 veterans charities were rated by the independent group by the amount they spend on fundraising compared to actual donations, and two-thirds were given either a D or F grade, "

IMock26: Brainwash: When I was a child, I loved my country.

When I was a teenager, I had my doubts.

Now that I'm an adult, I hate my country.

Then get out.

And this is why I love America.
I'm free to tell you I hate the place.
And you're free to tell me to leave.
And I'm free to give you the finger and tell you to stick it in your ear.
Then you're free to start a fist fight.
And I'm free to pistol whip the avocados out of you.
Then there's a shootout in the street and you open a can of whoop-ass on a schnauzer.
Then we talk about CCWs while insulting Obama over two PBR tallboys.

I'll remember this the next time some Fark Independent goes on a rant about how charities should be the ones helping the poor, not government.