Less money going to NC charities as donations go down

Chapel Hill, N.C. — More than $26 million was raised for charities in North Carolina in the 2011 fiscal year, but a little more than 49 percent actually went to the charities, according to a report the North Carolina Secretary of State's Office released Tuesday.

The report covers charities which raise money through the help of private fundraising groups. It shows that charities licensed by the state collected $26,716,762 from North Carolinians from July 1, 2010, to June 30, 2011. Of that, $13,215,195 went directly to charities.

Last fiscal year, nearly 54 percent of funds went to directly charities, the report found.

"As the economy is down, the dollars that are going from citizens to charities is also down," Secretary of State Elaine Marshall said during a press conference at the North Carolina Children’s Hospital in Chapel Hill on Tuesday. "Sadly, the percentage that's actually gone to the good works of the charities is down slightly. We all know that costs have gone up in a lot of things, and that's true in fundraising as well."

Marshall said because of the added costs, the contracts for fundraising groups might be higher.

33 Comments

WRAL.com welcomes your comments on this story. All comments are moderated prior to publication based on our posting guidelines. Please review them prior to posting and if your message is not approved.

VIEW ALL 33 COMMENTS

This story is closed for comments. Comments on WRAL.com news stories are accepted and moderated between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Latest Comments

Don't forget...all this may be, unfortunately true, however, in Buffalo, everyone has to work out...due to our borders. The informal internat'l bridge that me & others went over ..., the non-pay-me $$ from Govt to me and their uplifting of me as a Prophet and against my will. Neuro-drug by Kadafi says Clintons & they probably wd or Obamas' confirm...yet we were all told by each other...to work out..physically & of course, we are safer Sinsai.

josecleveland
December 14, 2011 1:53 p.m.

Redrubberball1 -- I don't give to organizations that spend more than 20 percent on expenses. That means 80 cents of every dollar contributed has to be used for helping people. The trouble with these charities is that they've found an easy way for someone else to give them money. Unfortunately for every dollar you donate through this method, another dollar goes to the fundraiser. That's terrible!

carydaddy
December 14, 2011 1:40 p.m.

I read a poster that attibutes the blame "Rich people telling other Rich people to tell the Middle Class to blame the Poor". I believe that is true.

Snookyone
December 14, 2011 11:47 a.m.

Study the list! Some charities receive nothing; all funds go to fundraising. I don't give to anything that has fundraising expenses over 10-20%. It's a scam.

redrubberball1
December 14, 2011 11:08 a.m.

ProudBlackSingleMothe:

If you think the $97K salary is bad, check out the Triangle United Way CEO's salary.

Just saying.