Two organizations, whose mission is to protect consumers from fraud, Public Citizen and the Center for Science in the Public Interest, are given a D and C- minus, respectively, in the AIP's most recent newsletter. High costs involved in fund raising usually indicate a lot of money going into direct mailings, telemarketing, television pitches, special events and parties . . . An investigation by the Michigan Attorney General found that more than 90 percent of Project Cure s proceeds went toward fund-raising campaigns such as sweepstakes mailings to potential donors. Then there's the case of the Organ Transplant Support Network, whose name seems to clearly spell out its intentions. Your contribution may be used for National Relief Charities general purposes, not necessarily for Organ Transplant Support Network, unless you designate that your contribution is restricted.
General purposes turn out to have little to do with organ transplants.
In fact they include the funding of substance-abuse programs. The Organ Transplant Support Network s parent organization, the National Relief Charities, not surprisingly, receives an F in the current AIP guide. The charity watchdog groups admit they are stern taskmasters. Both the AIP and the NCIB downgrade charitable organizations that have large reserves of capital, for example. If a particular group has access to assets that are equal to five years of its operating expenses, AIP gives it an automatic F, even if that organization has a good record in other areas.