It's a list any charity would want to avoid, the "Scrooges List" issued by the South Carolina Secretary of State Mark Hammond. It shows which charities are the best and worst at spending your money on program goals.
"When you look at their financial reports you find a large portion of their money is going to fund-raisers, going to administration, going to pay salaries," said Hammond.
For instance, one of the charities on the "Scrooges List" is the Police Protective Fund. Hammond said only about 24 cents of every dollar is actually spent on program goals. He said in 2007 the charity raised 6.8 million but only spent $50,000 for line of duty funeral planning services.
The chief operating officer of the Police Protective Fund, David Dierks, sent us this statement:
"I would ask that you post our website with any article or report that you run so folks can decide for themselves the value of our programs and see and hear the stories from the actual students, officers, chaplains and survivors that we've assisted through our programs."
Regular charity donors Debbie Thompson and Sharon Kingman can't imagine how the generosity of donors is spent so poorly.
"I think it's deceit," Thompson said. "They're taking your money and they're not a true charity."
"I think it's horrific," Kingman said. "I think our money is hard-earned and must be well spent."
But Hammond wants consumers to know there are plenty of responsible charities on his "Angels List". One right here in the Upstate has been recognized for being one of the very best. It's called Pendleton Place.
"Children come in here right off the streets," said Pendleton Place Executive Director Bob Pulido. "We are like the triage center of child care. they will come in when they've been abused and neglected, when they've been beaten, and when there's no safe place for them to be."
The Secretary of State's office said 95 cents of every dollar they get goes to programs.
"Everything we do goes toward the childcare," Pulido said.
Now Hammond hopes others see his list before they hand over their money.
"I'm glad there is a list like this so we can see where the money is going and who is doing the best job," said donor Baxter Winn.
For a list of the Angels and Scrooges click here.
For more information about a charity click here or call the Secretary of State's Charities Division at 1-888-242-7484.
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