Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

          Everybody wants to help starving orphans, our hearts are all touched by the pictures we see on television. But how many of us actually do anything about it? I have been as lax as anyone in not doing something to help the world’s most unfortunate children. But I have finally reached a point in my life where I am ready to do exactly that. This year I will be traveling to different parts of the world to assist unfunded orphanages in small villages. I will be starting in Thailand and then Cambodia and Laos. I am hoping to reach some places in the middle east, but that will depend on the political situation at the time. Many times in my life I have wanted to donate to these orphans but just did not have the finances to do so.

          I have set up a private charity for the purpose of helping orphanages and orphans. I know everybody wants to assume it is a scam to make money but this is not the case. I will be getting something from it, but not the amounts the big charities pay their executives. I have set it up as a private charity and will therefore be required to pay taxes on the unspent money each year.

          You can help by donating a small amount, one dollar a month is not a lot to feed hungry orphans. You can donate more although all I am asking is for one dollar a month because we can all afford such a small amount. It is set up to charge you $12 one time a year for 5 years, if you are unhappy with the way the money is being distributed cancel the donation after the first year.

Philanthropy or Scam ?

          It seems like every year we hear about some type of scam concerning charities. Web sites are set up to accept donations and the money is used to support the owners lavish lifestyle, little or none of the money actually gets to the intended recipients. We are constantly told to only give to registered 501c charities to avoid scams. If you look at the results of the big charity organizations though are they really any better than the scams ? The latest figures I have been able to find say that UNICEF actually gives less than ten percent of what they collect to the intended recipients.

Consider the following facts

·       UNICEF CEO Caryl M. Stern $1,200,000 annual salary (100k per month) all expenses and a ROLLS ROYCE

·       The American Red Cross President and CEO Marsha J. Evans
annual salary is $651,957 plus expenses
6 weeks - fully paid holidays including all related expenses during the holiday trip for her and her husband and kids. and 100% paid health & dental plan for her and her family, for life. 

·       The United Way President Brian Gallagher’s annual salary is $375,000 base plus expenses

These are all legitimate and legal 501c3 NON-PROFIT organizations and yet the people who manage them are literally getting rich. I don’t think they should work for free but the compensation seems a bit extreme in my opinion.

     Even many of the religious organizations have pretty poor track records with charitable contributions. They spend a lot of the donations on facility upkeep and staff salaries.

     So why do I see so many charities recently claiming to give 100% to the recipients. The only answer I can see is creative book keeping. If their office space is donated it still has a value and cannot be considered as being given to the recipient. Telephones, computers, websites, salaries and of course the fees paid for incorporation all add to the overhead of any charity.

     I recently researched opening a charity as I was considering creating one to benefit starving orphans. Not only do you need to be incorporated as a non-profit but you also must pay a fee ($400 to $800) to the IRS and then wait up to six months for approval. Then you must follow the IRS guidelines to keep from losing the non-profit status and stay out of prison.

     Fortunately there is a way around getting the IRS non-profit designation. You can apply to an IRS registered charity and work under them. They collect the funds that you raise and disburse them to your organization. The IRS still maintains control over how you utilize the funds though.

     The only way that I can see to open a charity and be able to help your chosen group, is to set up as a for profit company and spend enough on the recipients each year to effectively not show a profit. Any money that you have not spent will be considered income and taxed accordingy.

I have setup a company to accept donations and support small orphanages in third world countries. The web site is here

http://world-orphans-fund.us/

     Disclaimer: Being neither an attorney or CPA nothing in this article should be considered legal or financial advice . You should always check everything with an attorney and a CPA.

On our planet there are millions of starving orphans 
Have you ever dreamed of changing the world ? Making it a better place for everyone? If you could wave your hand and make all the hunger, disease, poverty, war and suffering go away, would you ? I think we have all wanted to be able to do this at some time. Unfortunately few people have the time or resources to make any great changes. Life isn’t fair and it probably never will be. We live in an imperfect world.

By combining our resources though we can make a difference in the world. We won’t stamp out hunger, disease, poverty, war and suffering, but together we can make things a little better for some of the orphans of the world. If we each contribute some of our time and money we can feed, clothe and educate some of our planets most unfortunate kids.

Our goal is to provide food, clothing, education and medical care for as many of these children as we possibly can. This will be accomplished by collecting donations from individuals and companies and distributing the funds to orphanages.

Go to http://world-orphans-fund.us/ for more information