That means an average of 60 cents of every dollar went to charity and 40 cents to overhead, based on financial data disclosed in hundreds of public Internal Revenue Service documents reviewed by the Express-News. How much from each gala ticket goes to the cause and how much to the party varies widely. Every year, there are black-tie galas that funnel 80 cents of every dollar to charity. Conversely, some spend 80 cents on the food, entertainment and decorations. Some galas spend a relatively high percentage on the event, but also deliver impressive total sums of money to the designated charity.
Some galas are well-run.
Others appear to operate with less fiscal discipline and efficiency. Some galas are designed only to raise charitable donations, while others seek publicity for the cause. State and federal regulators generally overlook the amount of money groups spend on such fund-raisers and do not publish guidelines on the accepted level of overhead. Charities try to operate efficiently. The United Way, for example, requires the community programs it supports to spend no more than 25 percent of their budgets on administrative costs.