Charity begins at home ... right?

Before you fork out those end-of-year charitable donations in response to all those last-minute emailed pleas for 2012 donations, it would be prudent to take a look at where your charitable donations go.
 
Fact is, many Americans are woefully naive when it comes to who "non-profit" thing.   Popular misconceptions notwithstanding, "non-profit" does not equal "doing the Lord's work."

All 501C3 non-profit status means in most states is that the entity is involved in some loosely define "public interest" activity, and that it has structured its accounting in a way that, from the IRS's perspective,  the entity earns no "profits" (although they can usually carry over excess income from year to year).
 
What 501C3 non-profit status does NOT mean is that the staff and directors and vendors and suppliers of the "charity" are all living a life of ascetic monks.

Consider for example the National Audubon Society, which gets money one way or another from virtually every active birder.  According to the BBB, National Audubon's Chief Executive Officer John Flicker (Flicker?  Really?  Has John Flicker met Debbi Shearwater?) made a cool $337,760 for the fiscal year July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's a lot of money to be paid for being the nation's best bird lover!

Now mind you, I'm not just picking on National Audubon, which is by no means the worst "non-profit" offender.  According to a recent Snopes report:

• The President and CEO of the United States Fund for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Caryl M. Stern, receives yearly compensation was $472,891.  (While it takes good care of its CEO, it is unclear whether or not UNICEF actually does very much to help poor children.)
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• The current President and CEO of the American Red Cross, Gail J. McGovern, in 2010 received a total yearly compensation of about $1,037,000.
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• The President and CEO of United Way Worldwide, Brian A. Gallagher, last reported total yearly compensation of $717,076 (including a base salary of $415,613).
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  The CEO of Goodwill Industries International, Jim Gibbons, in 2011 received a total reported compensation of $725,000.
   
• The two men who served as the Veterans of Foreign Wars' Commander-in-Chief during the 2009 tax year (Glen M. Gardner, Jr. and Thomas J. Tradewell, Sr.) received an aggregate total compensation of $329,868.
   
• In the 2009 tax year, the National Adjutant of Disabled American Veterans (Arthur H. Wilson), who is described as "serving as the DAV's chief executive officer," received a total compensation of $328,252.

I guess what it all boils down to is, in 21st century America, we've constructed a complex social caste system where most of the wealth is concentrated in a few families, and a bit-less wealthy servant class dedicates their careers to cajoling, begging, or conniving some of that wealth away to their respective "non-profits."  Of course, these professional panhandlers wear $1,500 suits, or little black dresses and pearls.  But if you did the same "work" standing next to a freeway off ramp with a "Will Work for Food" sign ... you'd likely get a ticket or worse.

The unseemliness of some high-class begging aside, some also wonder about the legitimacy of such relatively rich folks advocating on behalf of the poor or disadvantaged.  

Some people also point out that such well-heeled individuals working in the environmental non-profit arena are exceedingly well-insulated from the economic impacts of policies they may advocate.

On the other hand, is it not deeply troubling that an increasingly large share of 'public interest' work is being chosen, prioritized, and funded by a small handful of wealthy individuals ... individuals who must be pandered to relentlessly to get a share of their loot?  At best, it all seems very destructive to democratic principles.