UNICEF has one of the lowest overhead costs of ANY charitable organization. I've donated to them for over a decade and I've been debunking this post every time I see it.

the best thing about the salvation army was the movie "guys & dolls".

Heifer International, highest rated efficiency of all charities, so much fun to choose from bees, ducks, rabbits, goats, chicken, erc etc, or even a water buffalo if you have big $$$, plus their offspring must be given to neighbors, so the whole village gets uplifted!

I don't donate to non-profit organizations as a general rule. They're just a way for rich people to collect tax-free money from gullible poor people.

Donate locally, Woman's shelters, humane societies, catholic charities, keep your money local and help your neighbors.

Those bell-ringers are raising money for an anti-gay organization.

"Don't Donate to the Salvation Army"

[thestranger.com]

Great..except for the Salvation Army..they are so virulently anti-lgbtq they deny people overnight shelter, emergency clothing and food..that Army calls for the death of people like me..Please don't donate to the Army of Ignorants..

They are not accurate numbers. I dispute this every time I see it posted. The SA is a bigoted organization and with people putting misinformation like this out on its behalf, it's dishonest too. The information about the charities they bash is misleading too.

-A private CEO of an organization of the same scope would make many times as much. They won't get a qualified executive for free.
-The March of Dimes collects money to fund research to prevent birth defects. To my knowledge they've never claimed to aid the needy.
-UNICEF I don't know enough to comment.
-Goodwill may have a greedy CEO, but they benefit their employees by hiring them and teaching them job skills. I disagree with the fact that they underway them and in many cases get away with paying less than minimum wage, but their about the only option for many of them.

I never realized that Goodwill was just a massive thrift store racket! They won't be getting any donations from me!

Excellent resource, thanks for posting.

When possible, I donate th things I no longer need to Out Of The Closet Thrist stores, where most of the money goes to AIDS organizations and research.

Sorry for your bad experience...I do donate to them instead of Goodwill...I know many who could not have made it without them. Better to do local as well...local wounded warriors here is great...national group got into trouble...research is necessary.

I love thrift stores and I try to give both stuff and money to groups that are actually helping people. I have a tough time with the salvation army, morally, but despite their drawbacks, I think they do a good job. They do lots of direct help (food, shelter), they prices are aimed at helping those who are really low on funds, not just bargain hunters like me, and as that chart implies, their whole organization is pretty much about raising moneyand giving back.

Your experience doesn't surprise me. The owners are horrible people.

The Salvation Army is now a mostly for profit organization. They had a used goods store by me and two years ago, they started systematically going through all donated items to potentially sell on Ebay. Soon, the store was only filled with useless, valueless crap that no one would buy, so they closed the store down. Now it's just a facility for receiving donated goods.