Not All Charities Are Charitable
June 16, 2013 by Leo Walker, President of HIKE for Mental Health
CNN recently reported on “America’s Worst Charities,” naming groups that spent as little a 3% of donated money on their supposed missions. It is tragic that some people would set up essentially sham nonprofits designed prey on donors’ generosity and others’ misfortune in order to line their own pockets.
Tragic, but unfortunately not all that shocking.
Although these sham charities are a small minority of many thousand of non-profits doing good work every day, stories like this cast a cloud over all of us. As consumers, we have learned to bring a bit of skepticism to anyone asking us for money, and that is good.
Discriminating donors are our best friends
At HIKE for Mental Health, savvy, discriminating donors are our best friends, and we encourage everyone to carefully research any group to whom you are considering making a donation. Let describe clearly how we raise and use money at HIKE for Mental Health:
We are an all-volunteer organization, with an all-volunteer Board and all-volunteer leadership. No one connected with HIKE for Mental Health receives a single cent, directly or indirectly, from the organization.
We raise money primarily by asking hikers to collect sponsorships for their hikes. 100% of the funds raised from the hikes go to our mission causes. 0% goes to fundraising or overhead.
So how do we fund the running of the organization?
First of all, we just don’t spend that much money. For all of last year, we spend less than $2,000 on operating costs (primarily for hosting for our website, credit card fees to allow us to collect donations online, database software to maintain our hikers and sponsors information securely, brochures, and shirts).
The bulk of our operating funds come out of the pockets of the organizations’ founders and current Board members. Obviously, this is not a sustainable model long-term and we do hope to find corporate sponsors to help under-write our operating costs as the organization grows. But so far, and until that happens, the majority of the operating costs will continue to be borne by us personally. We do this because (a) we believe in the cause (b) we think it is important to put our own money in if we are asking others to do so and (c) we want sponsors of our hikers to know that 100% of their donations go to the purpose for which they made the donation.
The other source of income for operations is through donations for HIKE for Mental Health shirts. The shirts cost us about $12 delivered and we ask for a $20 donation. The $8 difference we put into our operating funds.
A minor source of operating funding is our association with GoodSearch, GoodShop, and GoodDining by which we receive a small amount (generally 1-5%) if you search, shop, or dine through the GoodSearch network of sites. If you haven’t checked this out, it is totally free to participate and doesn’t cost you a cent extra. in fact, there are often very good coupons available that save you money. Last year, we received about $45 because of supporters using this network – thank you!
Committed to complete transparency
We are committed to complete transparency in our raising and spending of money, so if you ever have any questions, just let me know. I will be happy to share our federal 990 form or show you our detailed financial statements. You can also check our our seal of approval from GuideStar, which certifies the transparency of nonprofit organizations.
Thank you to all our hikers, sponsors, donors, Facebook friends, and shirt-wearers! With you continued support, we will overcome the stigma of mental illness, advance scientific research leading to better understanding and treatments, and help preserve the wilderness trails that bring so many of us peace of mind in this hectic world.
I’m proud to be part of such a charitable group !!
Just out of curiosity, since you are hiking the AT, why isn’t any money going to the ATC? or maybe the state AT groups that you are hiking thru? In case you are considering widening the scope of your giving,I am a hiker here in GA and I know our GaATC could really use some help! :)-Anna
Hi Anna,
Thanks for your question. We approached the ATC first but they were not interested in receiving donations from us. So then we did exactly what you suggest and starting working with the local chapters. We would be thrilled to get some hikes going in GA, and if we could, would be very open to supporting the local chapter there. We would need a GA-based hike-leader / cheerleader to get it going. Know anyone? 🙂
How much do you give to help maintain the trails you hike on? Traffic on the trails damages the environment and they must maintain them.
Are you in connection with the ATC? Does the ATC help to support your cause? Because I know they are a national park and the department of the interior requires permission to use their parks for charities.
I would love to see a copy of your financial records to see where the money goes before I give money to support your cause, could you send me one?
Hi Brandi,
We agree – preserving our trails is critical! That is why we designate 20% of our funds to trail preservation and 80% to mental health research. We work through the local member groups of the Trail Conference where we conduct hikes and secure the appropriate permits for all our organized hikes.
I would be happy to go over our finanical records with you and answer any other questions you have. Email me at leo.walker@HIKEforMentalHealth.org and we can set up a mutually convenient time to review them together. Thanks!
Do you have the department of interiors permission to use their property for your non-profit? I find it hard to believe that the ATC would say no to money and still allow you to use the trail. The ATC is always in need of money, so usually in the case of not taking money they don’t want to be connected to your organization. Why might that be?
If you are full disclosure then we should not have to review them together.
Also Do you have a special use permit issued by the department of interior as required? This has an insurance obligation to it so they are not responsible for injuries that could occur.
As you probably know, the Department of Interior does not regulate permits for the AT, and there is no one permit for the AT. Each member organization of the ATC maintains its own permitting process, with its own rules and regulations. That is part of the reason we work with and support the local organizations. The ATC has a massively complicated job to coordinate across so many governmental, quasi-governmental, and non-profit groups. They often also encourage engagement more at the local level for that reason. Therefore, we adhere to the management structure of the AT by asking about and securing necessary permits from the proper local regulatory groups. Thanks for your inquiries.
Brandi, as is happening here, there are usually questions that come in the course of reviewing the documents. I find it more helpful and effective for all involved to do the review in a setting where questions can be asked and answered. If you like to do so, just let me know.
In terms of the ATC, they are very sensitive about being perceived as benefiting financially for letting groups (profit or nonprofit alike) use the Trail. Admittedly, their policies sometimes seem inconsistent in this regard, but they do their best to keep the Trail from becoming commercialized or from looking like they are benefiting from activity on it. Again, I’d be happy to talk with you about this anytime. Thanks.
Leo
What mental health organizations receive your donations? Do you donate directly to local trail preservation groups and do you have a list who receives your donations?
Hi Deb,
Every year, we publish on our website exactly who gets money from us and how much. Check out Our Financials page at http://www.hikeformentalhealth.org/about-us/our-financials/ to answer your question. We are working with the same 2 groups listed there again this year.