@sestrahelena wrote:
So if I donated the $10 they want, ACL gives 50 cents to the cause and keeps $9.50 as "Administrative cost?" Yeah, no. And their pre-filled amount and form made me a little angry.
No, when you donate $10, ACL gives $10. They gather up money from all their shoppers and donate it all in a big batch. They take credit for the donation. They show the amount of the entire donation on their taxes. The news reports you are reading about saying only 5% goes to the cause is not because ACL and others are withholding money. It is because many organizations that the money is donated to are running with such high administrative costs that only 5% is making it to the victims. This was recently discussed in connection with another MSC who was collecting money for Wounded Warriors program. That program has recently been in the news because only a small amount of the money donated to that program actually was being used to benefit wounded military personnel. Big media coverage and a lot of those running the Wounded Warrior program lost their jobs.
No, I don't donate to ACL's causes. This is not new. ACL has done this for years periodically. They choose a charity and collect from their shoppers and add it to whatever donation they make and it maximizes their tax deduction. Instead of paying their shoppers, they are using their shopper's donation to increase their tax deductions, lowering their cost of doing business. I was shocked once when their selected charity was one of their employees. I am also shocked each time I do a report and the automatic donation screen comes up. It always says "do you want to donate some of your earnings?" WHAT earnings? Most of the ACL shops are reimbursement only, so I have no earnings. I am only being reimbursed for money I already spent. If they want to ask for donations, they should change their wording. It's very offensive to me to be asked to share money from my earnings when there are NO earnings.