In recent times, my alumni oriented professional activities have collided big time with fundraising – specifically for nonprofits. Now, I have big respect for the work of many nonprofits. The missions of so many of these groups are admirable and necessary. I really have no issue with most nonprofits I encounter. So, unless it is a thinly veiled hate organization pretending to be something else, I say go ahead and do your thing: donate real estate to charity, give your clunker to the heart association, part with a few bucks… whatever feels right.

Here’s the thing, though. I have found that many of these organizations hire third party vendors to do data research and handle massive fundraising campaigns, and at the end of the day, very little money is actually raised. Well, no, maybe that’s not true. A whole bunch of money is raised, but a huge percentage goes to paying the vendor for the various research and data expenses. Not to mention the letter writing and postage and ginormous telecommunication efforts. It’s just… a drag to realize how few pennies of each dollar will actually make it to the folks who need it.

Of course, this is generally the case when responding to a mailer you receive or something along those lines. If you step up and research a cause you believe in and donate… well, then, most of your cash goes to the source. In most instances, administrative costs do not actually eat up a lot of contributions, or at least not as much as some people might claim. So please don’t think I’m am telling you to keep it close to the vest and stop being generous. My point is just that you must do some of your own due diligence in figuring out where you want to spread the wealth so it is, in fact… spread.