Is it permissible to advertise a charity in my signature?

Bohm Bawerk · #1 Sep 7, '11, 8:39 am

A reputable charity, Food for the Poor Inc, have recently announced they will multiply all current donations by 19x. I was wondering whether it's permissible for me to put a link in my signature to attract anyone who may wish to donate? I find the offer incredibly encouraging, and it's such a shame I donated about 2 months ago. So I feel the least I can do is publicize Food for the Poor Inc (a Catholic charity at that) in my signature.

Please help.

Jim Dandy · #2 Sep 7, '11, 9:47 am

I don't know the answer to your question, but I'm asking how you know Food for the Poor is a reputable charity? What research have you done? Is this the group that had some scandal in the past? What percent of their donations go to charity? And how are the charitable donations used? I know Aid to the Church in Need or Catholic Charities are Catholic. What makes Food for the Poor "Catholic"? How are they going to "increase donations 19x"? Thanks.

Bohm Bawerk · #3 Sep 7, '11, 9:52 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Dandy

I don't know the answer to your question, but I'm asking how you know Food for the Poor is a reputable charity? What research have you done? Is this the group that had some scandal in the past? What percent of their donations go to charity? And how are the charitable donations used? I know Aid to the Church in Need or Catholic Charities are Catholic. What makes Food for the Poor "Catholic"? Thanks.

Wikipedia page on Food for the Poor: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_for_the_poor

- I've donated to them before.
- They have a public Facebook page with thousands of fans ( http://www.facebook.com/FoodForThePoor ).
- They are one of the most efficient charities, donating 97.7% of all donations to charity, the rest covering costs such as administration ( http://www.charitynavigator.org/inde...ary&orgid=3714).
- They are not strictly "Catholic", but many of their public posts on Facebook ask for the intercession of the saints. Whether they are Catholic or not is a non-issue. What matters is that the poor and homeless are being helped, and your donation will get maximized by 19x.

SonCatcher · #4 Sep 7, '11, 10:43 am

I don't know whether it is specifically permitted but I have seen various members mention charitable causes such as http://www.freerice.com in their signatures.

I think if you are unobtrusive there shouldn't be a major problem but it wouldn't hurt to PM a moderator for guidance. (it may be frowned upon to embed a large banner)

Jim,
According to their site, Food for the Poor has already received direct food donations but needs money to cover shipping.

msugeotech · #5 Sep 7, '11, 10:47 am

I don't know if rule #6 applies since you're talking about a charitable organization, but it might. I agree with SonCatcher, best to PM a moderator just to be sure.

CONTENT RULES

1. Do not paste entire articles from web sites into a post. If you wish to reference an article on the web, link to its web address, instead.
2. Do not post others’ e-mail addresses or private e-mail sent by them on the public forums.
3. Do not post material from unapproved private revelations.
4. Do not post personal phone numbers and addresses.
5. Do not post anything that can be construed as spam.
6. Do not post anything that can be construed as a commercial advertisement or contains any form of commercial solicitation.
7. Do not post anything on this web site that you do not want to remain online permanently.

Sirach2 · #6 Sep 7, '11, 11:31 am

I used to contribute heavily to Food for the Poor until I discovered the nearly half-million dollar annual salary of the CEO. That just doesn't sit well with me, sorry. I wonder how well we'd appreciate Mother Teresa if she commanded an exorbitant salary such as this?

http://www.charitynavigator.org/inde...ary&orgid=3714

High rating of five stars, low adm. exp. and fundraising exp.

Robin G. Mahfood President, CEO (The person identified as holding the highest position of management, and therefore who would normally be responsible for carrying out the mission of the charity and leading the organization on a day-to-day basis.) $403,656

I have been on their mailing list continually ever since I started supporting them. I just received a personal letter today stating that for every $1 that is donated, it will purchase $19.33 worth of food and other aid. Most likely, they are able to buy at a huge discount in these foreign countries. It doesn't mean they do matching funds.

With respect to your request to use it in your signature, I have seen no objections to Lizaanne advertising "RealCatholicTV" in her signature for a very long time. They are not a charity, either, but charge a fee to access their website's premium programming. Seems like a strong commercial advertisement for those with whom she is affiliated --- not a beautiful gesture like yours.

Bohm Bawerk · #7 Sep 7, '11, 11:38 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sirach2

I used to contribute heavily to Food for the Poor until I discovered the nearly half-million dollar annual salary of the CEO. That just doesn't sit well with me, sorry. I wonder how well we'd appreciate Mother Teresa if she commanded an exorbitant salary such as this?

http://www.charitynavigator.org/inde...ary&orgid=3714

High rating of five stars, low adm. exp. and fundraising exp.

Robin G. Mahfood President, CEO (The person identified as holding the highest position of management, and therefore who would normally be responsible for carrying out the mission of the charity and leading the organization on a day-to-day basis.) $403,656

Thanks for this. I honestly never knew!

Sirach2 · #8 Sep 7, '11, 11:55 am

Bohm, most likely with such low expenses, a lot of the donations will help the poor, so you may still want to consider using it in your signature.

For me, after I learned this, I changed my charity to Father Ho Lung's "Missionaries of the Poor." He also serves the people in Haiti, but I doubt that he keeps a salary of this scale. Another alternative is Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity. I have addresses for both, if you need them.

SonCatcher · #9 Sep 7, '11, 12:40 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sirach2

I used to contribute heavily to Food for the Poor until I discovered the nearly half-million dollar annual salary of the CEO. That just doesn't sit well with me, sorry. I wonder how well we'd appreciate Mother Teresa if she commanded an exorbitant salary such as this?

http://www.charitynavigator.org/inde...ary&orgid=3714

High rating of five stars, low adm. exp. and fundraising exp.

Robin G. Mahfood President, CEO (The person identified as holding the highest position of management, and therefore who would normally be responsible for carrying out the mission of the charity and leading the organization on a day-to-day basis.) $403,656

Unfortunately, such a salary may be necessary to maintain the interest of a powerful and effective leader who could easily find a position commanding millions in corporate America.

There does seem to be some history of disagreement with the bishops in their area, charges of nepotism, etc. The article is about a decade old so hopefully any legitimate issues have since been remedied. Still, 97% efficiency for a charity is remarkably effective.

Sirach2 · #10 Sep 7, '11, 1:03 pm

Hm. So instead of paying half a million to another CEO, they pay one of their own? Robin is Ferdinand's brother!

I'm always suspicious of organizations that want to collect huge amounts of monies independent of the Church, yet wear the robe of collecting for the Church's poor. At one time, perhaps 10-12 years ago, this organization had the Pope's approval and stories appeared in our local Catholic newspaper regarding their works of charity. Their representatives came to our churches and made many financial appeals.

Jim Dandy · #11 Sep 8, '11, 1:44 pm

This is what I was remembering, but couldn't recall the details. This is a reprint from Christianity Today, October, 2002. Ferdinand Mahfood resigned when he was exposed and turned the organization over to his brother, the current CEO, who makes enough for both of them, IMO!

http://missionaryjournalist.net/imag...in_Scandal.pdf

One of the three bishops who resigned from Food for the Poor said it was clear that the organization exists to provide the employment of the family. See the "disagreement" link in Soncatcher's post.

Is 97% efficienty a self-reported number or does an independent agency verify that this is true?

Jim Dandy

SonCatcher · #12 Sep 8, '11, 2:25 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Dandy

Is 97% efficiency a self-reported number or does an independent agency verify that this is true?

Jim Dandy

It's on Sirach2's Charity Navigator link, so I presume it's independently verified. Interestingly, that page lists other, similar charities that are even more efficient (99%) but they are also much smaller. Food for the Poor administers over a billion dollars in donations. The next 2 administer less than 1/10 that amount, combined.

Food for the Poor 97%
Globus Relief 99%
CIS Development Foundation 99%
Feed My Starving Children 90% (seems more directly comparable to FFTP's work)