Charity Update
Dec. 29th, 2008 08:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebI've done some more research on charities to which to donate.
I checked my local food coop to see if any of the charities they contribute to were in my newer categories (pain treatment, torture, child abuse). Nope. They are mostly focused on environmental, food, and coop issues.
I reviewed my employer's latest charitable contribution brochure which lists a huge number of charities. They screen charities to make sure they are nonprofit, that their accounts are reviewed annually, and that they don't spend an exorbitant percentage of their funds on administration.
Poverty
I did more research on Engineers without Borders although they are not on my employer's list. Improving infrastructure is decidedly not band-aid-like. However, their administrative costs look high (but could this be because many donations, such as the time of the engineers, is not included in the accounting?). I think I will contribute a little to this group. I also got another suggestion I am thinking about--I'm not sure it fits into my vision of what this category is for.
Pain
Although pain treatment for surgery has improved, it's quite possible that pain options for cancer and arthritis are still terrible. I think I will continue donating in this area.
Torture
The only organization addressing torture that is listed in the brochure is Amnesty International. Wikipedia says they won a Nobel Peace Prize and that they are sometimes criticized for not taking into account the need for security. Score. They are getting some of this year's money.
Child abuse
My employer had many listings for groups fighting child abuse. These notes are really just for me, so please skip past these as you're reading because there are just so many:
* Center for Child Protection - first stop for child victims of alleged abuse, provides free thereapeutic services during the investigation/prosecution of child abuse cases (5.54%)
* Central Texas Youth Services Bureau - counseling, emergency shelter, transitional living, hotline (16.18%) Other counties.
* Children's Advocacy Center of Central Texas - provides specialized services to child abuse victims and their families through Children's Advocacy Center and Court Appointed Special Advocates Programs (1.92%). Located in Belton
* Families in Crisis, Inc.safe shelter, counseling and outreach. (7.18%) Shelter, outreach, and prevention in Bell, Coryell, and Hamilton Counties.
* Family Connections - provide parents and early learning programs with resources and services to prevent child abuse and neglect (7.93%) "Despite written Better Business Bureau requests in the past year, this organization either has not provided current information or has declined to be evaluated in relation to BBB's charity standards." Parent education.
* Family Crisis Center - provides refuge and other services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault or child abuse (17.5%) Based in Bastrop. Includes prevention.
* Helping Hand Home for Children - provides residential treatment services and therapeutic foster care to child victims (18.7%)
* Hill Country Children's Advocacy Center - provides emotional healing services (6.1%) - mostly make sure that all interviewing of alleged victims is done in one place instead of several places that don't communication to minimize additional trauma
* National Children's Advocacy Center - to model and promote excellence in child abuse response and prevention. Increases awareness, education, and resources to protect all children (19.05%) The BBB received a call from Laura Emerson on August 23, 2005 requesting more time needed to complete the questionnaire and return the accompanying materials. This report will be updated when the data has been received and evaluated by the BBB.
* Prevent Child Abuse Texas - stops violence and brings hope and safety to Texas' abused and neglected children (14.32%) They merely want to change society. (BBB-basically seems okay)
* SafePlace - provides hotline, shelter, transitional housing, counseling, children's services, case management, violence prevention and other services for adults and children hurt by sexual and domestic violence (15.58%) Community education, crisis and long-term intervention. Despite written Better Business Bureau requests in the past year, this organization either has not provided current information or has declined to be evaluated in relation to BBB's charity standards.
* Settlement Club - provide a nurturing continuum of care for abused and neglected children. (7.68%) Provides intense counseling followed by foster care and adoption (at least for girls)
I googled "best child abuse charities." I found Charity Watch which actually rates charities, but only based on percent spent on charitable purpose and cost to raise $100. Uh, those are somewhat important, but not the main point. Still, their top grades are for
* Child Find of America (A+)
* Children's Defense Fund (A)
* American Human Association (A-)
Robin also suggested Big Brothers and Big Sisters. When he volunteered there, he got the very distinct impression that they were looking for nice male role models for boys who just didn't have any in their families (only mean, abusive males). Interesting.
I checked out the Better Business Bureau but found nothing of interest there on these organizations. It seems like it would be most handy for large organizations. So I checked out the following (skip to the last one for quicker reading):
Nature Conservancy - meets all 20 standards for charity accountability.
- Programs: 78% Fund Raising: 9% Administrative: 13%
Conservation International - meets all but 2 standards.
- Programs: 84% Fund Raising: 5% Administrative: 11%
Planned Parenthood - meets all standards.
- Programs: 76% Fund Raising: 15% Administrative: 9%
FINCA International - meets all but one standard.
- Programs: 90% Fund Raising: 3% Administrative: 7%
ACCION International - meets all standards.
- Programs: 77% Fund Raising: 10% Administrative: 13%
Engineers without Borders - no data
Arthritis and Cancer Pain Research Center - no data
Amnesty International - meets all standards.
- Programs: 82% Fund Raising: 16% Administrative: 2%
JustGive - no report yet; 0 complaints.
American Red Cross - meets all 20 standards.
- Programs: 95% Fund Raising: 2% Administrative: 3% (These Red Cross numbers surprise me greatly. In fact, it makes me distrust all these numbers.)
Maybe it's no good for large organizations, either, because they can afford to hire people to massage their numbers. Or maybe instead of looking up the national programs, I should have looked up local branches. Bleh--I'm going to ignore these finance numbers, for this year, anyway (except that I know Conservation International must spend less than the Nature Conservancy on the begging, based on how much they don't beg me, so I give them some of my money even though I don't know if their work is as well-respected as that of the Nature Conservancy).
Meanwhile, I still have very little clue about how to help with child abuse. When I read about prevention, I see parent education programs. Do those just teach parents that it's not okay to leave the kids in the car while you're in the grocery store? Some train parents on what's appropriate for little kids at different ages so their expectations line up better with reality. Some of them have anger management training. But then pedophiles know what they're doing is wrong and they do it anyway and they are very hard to cure. Other types of abuse may or may not be similar. So how effective are these programs? How could you even measure effectiveness?
If they're not effective, it would be better to go with the crisis intervention and counseling groups. But then you hear rumors about people abusing their powers and dragging kids out of perfectly good homes after the parents are accused by the Evil Uncle retaliating against some perceived mistreatment of themselves. I could make sure to target places where people come to them for help. But maybe the other ones are more important. I just don't know.
I am sick of researching (depressing!) and will probably go for one organization that does a little bit of everything.
I checked my local food coop to see if any of the charities they contribute to were in my newer categories (pain treatment, torture, child abuse). Nope. They are mostly focused on environmental, food, and coop issues.
I reviewed my employer's latest charitable contribution brochure which lists a huge number of charities. They screen charities to make sure they are nonprofit, that their accounts are reviewed annually, and that they don't spend an exorbitant percentage of their funds on administration.
Poverty
I did more research on Engineers without Borders although they are not on my employer's list. Improving infrastructure is decidedly not band-aid-like. However, their administrative costs look high (but could this be because many donations, such as the time of the engineers, is not included in the accounting?). I think I will contribute a little to this group. I also got another suggestion I am thinking about--I'm not sure it fits into my vision of what this category is for.
Pain
Although pain treatment for surgery has improved, it's quite possible that pain options for cancer and arthritis are still terrible. I think I will continue donating in this area.
Torture
The only organization addressing torture that is listed in the brochure is Amnesty International. Wikipedia says they won a Nobel Peace Prize and that they are sometimes criticized for not taking into account the need for security. Score. They are getting some of this year's money.
Child abuse
My employer had many listings for groups fighting child abuse. These notes are really just for me, so please skip past these as you're reading because there are just so many:
* Center for Child Protection - first stop for child victims of alleged abuse, provides free thereapeutic services during the investigation/prosecution of child abuse cases (5.54%)
* Central Texas Youth Services Bureau - counseling, emergency shelter, transitional living, hotline (16.18%) Other counties.
* Children's Advocacy Center of Central Texas - provides specialized services to child abuse victims and their families through Children's Advocacy Center and Court Appointed Special Advocates Programs (1.92%). Located in Belton
* Families in Crisis, Inc.safe shelter, counseling and outreach. (7.18%) Shelter, outreach, and prevention in Bell, Coryell, and Hamilton Counties.
* Family Connections - provide parents and early learning programs with resources and services to prevent child abuse and neglect (7.93%) "Despite written Better Business Bureau requests in the past year, this organization either has not provided current information or has declined to be evaluated in relation to BBB's charity standards." Parent education.
* Family Crisis Center - provides refuge and other services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault or child abuse (17.5%) Based in Bastrop. Includes prevention.
* Helping Hand Home for Children - provides residential treatment services and therapeutic foster care to child victims (18.7%)
* Hill Country Children's Advocacy Center - provides emotional healing services (6.1%) - mostly make sure that all interviewing of alleged victims is done in one place instead of several places that don't communication to minimize additional trauma
* National Children's Advocacy Center - to model and promote excellence in child abuse response and prevention. Increases awareness, education, and resources to protect all children (19.05%) The BBB received a call from Laura Emerson on August 23, 2005 requesting more time needed to complete the questionnaire and return the accompanying materials. This report will be updated when the data has been received and evaluated by the BBB.
* Prevent Child Abuse Texas - stops violence and brings hope and safety to Texas' abused and neglected children (14.32%) They merely want to change society. (BBB-basically seems okay)
* SafePlace - provides hotline, shelter, transitional housing, counseling, children's services, case management, violence prevention and other services for adults and children hurt by sexual and domestic violence (15.58%) Community education, crisis and long-term intervention. Despite written Better Business Bureau requests in the past year, this organization either has not provided current information or has declined to be evaluated in relation to BBB's charity standards.
* Settlement Club - provide a nurturing continuum of care for abused and neglected children. (7.68%) Provides intense counseling followed by foster care and adoption (at least for girls)
I googled "best child abuse charities." I found Charity Watch which actually rates charities, but only based on percent spent on charitable purpose and cost to raise $100. Uh, those are somewhat important, but not the main point. Still, their top grades are for
* Child Find of America (A+)
* Children's Defense Fund (A)
* American Human Association (A-)
Robin also suggested Big Brothers and Big Sisters. When he volunteered there, he got the very distinct impression that they were looking for nice male role models for boys who just didn't have any in their families (only mean, abusive males). Interesting.
I checked out the Better Business Bureau but found nothing of interest there on these organizations. It seems like it would be most handy for large organizations. So I checked out the following (skip to the last one for quicker reading):
Nature Conservancy - meets all 20 standards for charity accountability.
- Programs: 78% Fund Raising: 9% Administrative: 13%
Conservation International - meets all but 2 standards.
- Programs: 84% Fund Raising: 5% Administrative: 11%
Planned Parenthood - meets all standards.
- Programs: 76% Fund Raising: 15% Administrative: 9%
FINCA International - meets all but one standard.
- Programs: 90% Fund Raising: 3% Administrative: 7%
ACCION International - meets all standards.
- Programs: 77% Fund Raising: 10% Administrative: 13%
Engineers without Borders - no data
Arthritis and Cancer Pain Research Center - no data
Amnesty International - meets all standards.
- Programs: 82% Fund Raising: 16% Administrative: 2%
JustGive - no report yet; 0 complaints.
American Red Cross - meets all 20 standards.
- Programs: 95% Fund Raising: 2% Administrative: 3% (These Red Cross numbers surprise me greatly. In fact, it makes me distrust all these numbers.)
Maybe it's no good for large organizations, either, because they can afford to hire people to massage their numbers. Or maybe instead of looking up the national programs, I should have looked up local branches. Bleh--I'm going to ignore these finance numbers, for this year, anyway (except that I know Conservation International must spend less than the Nature Conservancy on the begging, based on how much they don't beg me, so I give them some of my money even though I don't know if their work is as well-respected as that of the Nature Conservancy).
Meanwhile, I still have very little clue about how to help with child abuse. When I read about prevention, I see parent education programs. Do those just teach parents that it's not okay to leave the kids in the car while you're in the grocery store? Some train parents on what's appropriate for little kids at different ages so their expectations line up better with reality. Some of them have anger management training. But then pedophiles know what they're doing is wrong and they do it anyway and they are very hard to cure. Other types of abuse may or may not be similar. So how effective are these programs? How could you even measure effectiveness?
If they're not effective, it would be better to go with the crisis intervention and counseling groups. But then you hear rumors about people abusing their powers and dragging kids out of perfectly good homes after the parents are accused by the Evil Uncle retaliating against some perceived mistreatment of themselves. I could make sure to target places where people come to them for help. But maybe the other ones are more important. I just don't know.
I am sick of researching (depressing!) and will probably go for one organization that does a little bit of everything.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
on 2008-12-30 03:51 am (UTC)The 3% administrative figure for Red Cross surprises me too.
no subject
on 2008-12-30 02:37 pm (UTC)It occurred to me to write to H, our social work friend, for ideas on the child abuse issue. Doh! If she doesn't get back to me in time, I'll just make that my first priority for next year.
no subject
on 2008-12-30 04:14 am (UTC)Useful stuff, too.
Center for Child Protection in Austin
on 2008-12-31 05:42 pm (UTC)If you are interested in learning more about child abuse prevention/intervention efforts in Travis County, we would welcome the chance to give you a tour of our facility and meet with you in person. You are right, child abuse prevention can be a daunting issue to explore but we fervently believe that it is possible to ultimately end that cycle. It starts one family at a time. Let me know if you're interested - we'd be happy to share with you what we know and how we help children and families.
Best regards and Happy New Year,
Amy Carr
Center for Child Protection
512-472-1164
acarr@centerforchildprotection.org