Holiday season is giving season, and grifters will be out in force to scam you out of your charitable donation money. Here’s a rundown of some of the organizations that pocket your generosity for their own enrichment. (Click here for source.) For a larger list compiled by the Tampa Bay Times, click here. Here in Washington, you can check out charities here.
| Rank | Charity name | Total raised by solicitors | Paid to solicitors | % spent on direct cash aid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kids Wish Network | $137.9 million | $115.9 million | 2.5% |
| 2 | Cancer Fund of America | $86.8 million | $75.4 million | 1.0% |
| 3 | Children’s Wish Foundation International | $92.7 million | $61.2 million | 10.6% |
| 4 | Firefighters Charitable Foundation | $62.8 million | $53.8 million | 7.4% |
| 5 | International Union of Police Associations, AFL-CIO | $66.6 million | $50.4 million | 0.5% |
| 6 | Breast Cancer Relief Foundation | $63.9 million | $44.8 million | 2.2% |
| 7 | American Association of State Troopers | $48.1 million | $38.6 million | 8.9% |
| 8 | National Veterans Service Fund | $70.2 million | $36.9 million | 7.8% |
| 9 | Children’s Cancer Fund of America | $43.7 million | $34.4 million | 4.6% |
| 10 | Children’s Cancer Recovery Foundation | $38.5 million | $28.9 million | 0.7% |
| 11 | Project Cure (Bradenton, FL) | $53.8 million | $25.5 million | 0.0% |
| 12 | Committee for missing Children | $26.6 million | $23.5 million | 0.8% |
| 13 | Youth Development Fund | $27.5 million | $22.6 million | 1.0% |
| 14 | Association for Firefighters and Paramedics | $24.0 million | $21.4 million | 3.1% |
| 15 | Woman to Woman Cancer Foundation | $19.4 million | $18.2 million | 0.3 |