In Trying Times for Charities, Eliminating Waste Is Crucial : $4 Million Unwisely Donated to 3 Area Groups Could Have Helped Many

A series of articles last week by Times reporter Doug Smith--”Charities in Need: The Declining Support for Valley Philanthropy”--highlighted a tough situation. Many Valley-based charities are struggling with dramatic declines in donations and resources at a time when the demand for their services is greater than ever.

Three years ago, for example, the United Way Campaign’s North Los Angeles Region distributed $5.9 million to its 63 affiliate agencies across the Valley. In 1993, however, that figure dropped to just $2.9 million. Meanwhile, on the front lines, there are groups such as MEND in the northeast Valley. It feeds and clothes the poor and has seen a 30% increase in its caseload. For three straight years, MEND has been spending more than it brings in, and it has nearly depleted its emergency fund.

To make matters worse, this has also been a time of government retrenchment, with cutbacks in the state and local funding that recipients depend on to eke out a reasonable existence. That has swept folks like Clyde Rossberg out of a manageable fiscal situation and deeply into the red. Rossberg, who suffers from Lou Gehrig’s disease, was evicted and forced to seek the help of the Independent Living Center when his state benefits check was cut.

Individuals have less to donate to charity because of the recession, and many of the businesses that have been such dependable contributors to charity in the past have scaled back their donations, moved, or ceased to exist. So, what should be done?

At such times, it is imperative that every dollar is donated as wisely as possible. Recently, however, more than $4 million in donations have rolled in to just three fund-raising groups situated in the Valley and its environs. About $600,000 of that went to a Burbank-based professional fund-raising group that passed on just $76,000 to its client charities. It kept the rest. Another $400,000 went to a Glendale fund-raising group that had been illegally using the name of a veterans organization. And $3 million went to a group that claimed it was collecting money for the Los Angeles Police Department. The LAPD didn’t see a dime of the money. That $4 million could have wiped out the deficits of several local charities, had it been donated sensibly.

To avoid such waste, call the city’s Social Services Department at 1-800-77-DONAT. It has files on thousands of reputable charities, including many in the Valley. You could also pick a charity that is well-known by friends or relatives.

If you receive telephone solicitations, ask the callers whether they represent for-profit organizations, and ask how much of your contribution will go to the charity. They are required by law to answer you. Before you donate anything, ask them for a call-back number and an address. Those who refuse and offer to send a courier are often trying to avoid violating postal laws.

And something else can be done, by the courts, oddly enough.

Many Valley-based charities have been forced to devote more of their staffs to fund-raising activities, and some have had to cut back on the number of workers to reduce costs. In the past, many small-time offenders and those who had committed traffic violations had been been ordered to perform community service by Los Angeles municipal court judges. But the judges have largely moved in the opposite direction, leveling fines against those individuals. It might be very reasonable indeed if the judges took the city’s deteriorating social service climate into consideration. Local charities could certainly use several more hours worth of helping hands.