Charity Navigator

Has anyone else done research through the Charity Navigator website? It gives you the lowdown on the rating charities have for how much of the funds solicited actually go for the cause, gives details on their innner workings, who the president/CEO/head etc. is and their salaries.

People might be surprised at some of the charities and their organization, whether it's private or public, and other charities that come under the same basic kind of general heading.

http://www.charitynavigator.org/

I was recently given information which concerned me--the head of the charity was earning in the vicinity of $225K for salary, and that bothers me. I know each group or organization is different, and I know there are a lot of donations that can go to lobbying and such, but when I compared this particular charity and a few others in the same area doing similar work, the comparison was shocking--the other charities had organizers earning a WHOLE lot less, and more money was being used for the work of the group. It opened my eyes, and now I've switched to donating more when I can to the other charities.

We can't support every carity out there, and knowing which charities are using funds to go direct to the causes is more importantt than supporting a charity that is paying its current head a salary of over $200K.

This is the salary breakkdown for the highest paid administrations of St. Jude's Hospital:

Name Title Compensation % of Expenses
David McKee Interim Chief Executive Officer, COO (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.) $439,062 0.05%
Other Salaries of Note
John P. Moses Former Chief Executive Officer (Using information reported on an organization's most recent Form 990, we include as compensation an individual's salary, cash bonuses, and expense accounts and other allowances. We do not include contributions to benefit plans or compensation deferred to a future date.) $686,191 0.08%
Kathie Berlin Board Member (Using information reported on an organization's most recent Form 990, we include as compensation an individual's salary, cash bonuses, and expense accounts and other allowances. We do not include contributions to benefit plans or compensation deferred to a future date.) $10,000 0.00%
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While I realize the highest paid salaries go to probably doctors, I doubt if I could support a charity where they get over $1M between them.