The following article appeared in the Times Leader newspaper on May 10, 2012. Written by Bill O’Boyle.
WILKES-BARRE – Does the Dirty Girl Run muddy the fundraising waters?
The national event has held eight races to date, including the Dirty Girl Mud Run two weeks ago in Lackawanna County. And in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the event took in $560,000 and donated $14,500 to the charity. The organization clearly states on its website and registration forms that it will donate 2.5 percent of registration fees to the National Breast Cancer Foundation for research.
Some have raised questions about the 2.5 percent donation, including:
• Is that enough?
• In today’s world of declining donor dollars and rising demand for charitable services, is any donation better than no donation?
• Is the practice of for-profit companies taking in big money and donating only 2.5 percent of the gross to the charity an acceptable practice?
• Are charities being exploited? Is the public being misled?
The controversy with the May 5 event at Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain points to a larger issue: charities face higher demands for services from cash-strapped clients and dwindling donor dollars and diminishing government funds.
Partnerships needed
Because nonprofits have been financially challenged, the organizations have resorted to a variety of partnerships to bring in income and raise their profiles in the community. They work harder on special events, they trim their budgets and they do everything they can to get their names out there where prospective donors can notice. That’s why a charity will eagerly accept a donation from a company that uses their name and logo, raises hundreds of thousands of dollars and donates a fraction to the charity.
“In essence, it (government aid) has been eliminated,” said Charles Barber, executive director at the Luzerne Foundation. “Everybody’s wish is it gets restored, but nobody’s holding their breath.”
But, Barber said, the generosity of the people of the region has been “a godsend.”
Barber says every charity has a mission and purpose and with that comes a responsibility to communicate to the community. Part of the challenge is to identify businesses and individuals who identify with the particular needs of the specific charity.
“The economy has presented challenges for everybody,” Barber said. “That’s why you have seen an increase in special events as a way to raise money.”
Even though more events are being held, the amounts raised represent only a portion of the money needed to run the charity.
But events have benefits beyond raising funds. Special events also increases awareness.
“Fundraisers are also friend-raisers,” Barber said. “They get new people involved and aware of the mission of an organization and that translates to revenue.” Barber said donors have become more selective when choosing where to give. He said the more information that can be put out in the public translates to more donations. “You have to give prospective donors the best possible understanding of what a charity does,” Barber said. “Let them know what you do and why you have to do it; tell them who you help and why.”
Bill Jones, executive director at the United Way of Wyoming Valley, said special events – whether conducted by in-house staff or by outside groups – are a critical part of any fundraising plan. “Not only do they bring in dollars, they bring awareness and visibility to an organization,” Jones said. “Having said that, they are a very expensive proposition and they imply risk.”
Jones said an organization can plan an event and have it not be well attended and could lose money. He said if an event doesn’t raise at least $10,000, it’s not worth doing. Jones said donor dollars are still out there. He said contributions are down a bit overall. He said the competition has increased, making charities work that much harder to encourage donors to give.
“Donors are becoming more selective, more sophisticated,” Jones said. “Donors want their dollars to mean something.” Jones said most charities are worthy – they have good missions, they operate efficiently and they make a positive impact on the community. “But total revenue is flat or decreasing for lots of agencies,” he said.
Barber and Jones said there are no hard rules that say what percentage of money raised at a charitable event should go to the charity. They said events raise money, but they also provide fun, such as golfing or dancing at a gala, for the donors.
Dirty Girl Mud Run
At the Dirty Girl Mud Run earlier this month, thousands of spectators and participants had fun.
From the perspective of Dirty Girl Founder Robin Gohsman, charity also benefited. In addition to the 2.5 percent donation of the gate, another “substantial” donation was given to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, he said.
Gohsman wouldn’t say how much constituted “substantial,” but he said the foundation is very happy with the amount and has no complaints about the event.
Amy Power, president and chief executive officer of Power Public Relations LLC, issued a statement on behalf of the National Breast Cancer Foundation: “We are proud to partner with the Dirty Girl Mud Run. Through their fundraising efforts in 2011, we received $50,000 and this year we expect to receive over $200,000. These donations allow us to fulfill our mission of providing education, mammograms and breast health services to women in need.”
Opposing viewpoint
But area businessman Scott Sanfilippo of Moosic has a different opinion. Sanfilippo questioned the 2.5 percent donation publicly on his blog.
Many people commented – some said they were aware of the 2.5 percent and others were offended even to the point that they would not participate again. Here’s what Sanfilippo blogged: “8,000 women plopped down $70 to register for the event resulting in a $560,000.00 take. Remove the costs to promote and put on the event and that’s a nice chunk of change for breast cancer research, right?
“Wrong.”
The blog notes that the Dirty Girl organizers include the fact that 2.5 percent of the registration fee goes to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Sanfilippo said the 8,000 women “gathered in a spirit of community to run in the mud either as a cancer survivor, a family member of someone who died of cancer or a friend. They all had a great bonding experience and from what I’ve seen, would do it again.
“But when you wrap yourself around a cause and use that as your primary motivator to get people to fork over their money, I would expect much stronger financial support than 2.5 percent,” he blogged.
Many comments were posted on Sanfilippo’s website. Most of them felt the event was “awesome” and they didn’t mind that only $1.75 of their $70 entrance fee went to the charity.
Check out beforehand
Jones, of United Way who also ran Volunteers of America, said patrons of charitable events should inquire beforehand where the money goes.
“Before participating, people should know the charity and the event and then ask was it worth it,” Jones said.
“The million dollar question is, ‘Is it good enough to continue the relationship with the event organizers?’ You have to measure the take and the exposure and determine if it was enough,” he added.
What to watch for
Don’t donate a thing without checking up on the charity
Do some research on the organizations that will benefit from your generosity
Evaluate charities based on fiscal health and efficiency – operating efficiency (includes evaluation of overhead and amounts given to intended recipients)
Source: website wepay.com: