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My $200 donation to a local animal shelter last year still makes me wonder
I gave the money to the Happy Paws shelter in my town, thinking it would help a lot. But then I saw a post online about how much of their cash goes to admin costs (like, over 40 percent). It saved me from feeling good about it, but also burned me because now I overthink every charity gift. How do you pick where to give money without getting stuck on the details?
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webb.blake6mo ago
Wait, over forty percent goes to admin costs?
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brianm275mo ago
Yeah I actually read something about this recently that stuck with me. There was this guy who runs a watchdog site for charities and he said the admin cost thing is way more complicated than people think. Like a shelter might report high admin because they actually pay their staff a decent wage instead of burning people out, which in the long run makes them more effective. The real red flags he talked about were things like the CEO taking a huge salary or them spending a ton on fundraising mailers that only bring in a few bucks. So maybe look at how much they're actually doing with the money they have left after costs, not just the percentage number. I still overthink it too though, especially when I see those breakdowns online.
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