Sponsoring kids overseas...question...

[Freedom]

You can always check Charity Navigator for info on a charitable organization. If 80% of their $ go to the programs they run, then it is usually a great charity.

Having been involved with charitable orgs. for 25 years, I can tell you the lager ones do pay staff, much like corporations do. They HAVE to! They need skilled folks to manage a national / international business. So, just knowing what the CEO makes is NOT telling you a thing.

The large ones (like American Red Cross) truly are huge corporations, with overhead, legal issues, tax information reports, state and federal reports, and all sorts of infrastructure necessary to run such a large business. And make no mistake, a charity IS a business! It is a not for profit business, but it IS a business. Staff does work at it full time, and to have qualified folks running such a thing, you need to be competitive in your salaries.

[wombat2u2004]

Staff does work at it full time, and to have qualified folks running such a thing, you need to be competitive in your salaries.

Like half a mil a year ???? It's nice for the CEO to hand out bread crusts to the starving kids and then go home to watch his little girl feed her new pony apples.
I for one would not sleep at night, but I'm sure the CEO does...with a smile on his face to.

[Catty1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_International

Children International began in 1936[6] as Holy Land Christian Mission. Initially, it focused on assisting children with physical handicaps and single mothers.[7] However, in 1980, the organization responded to the expansion of extreme poverty by dropping its religious affiliation, changing its name to Children International, and becoming a secular NGO.

That same year, the organization opened its first centers in India, the Philippines and Guatemala.[8] Since 1980, the number of sponsored children has grown from 2,300 to 335,000.

As of 2010, the organization continues to recruit sponsors through its website, television ad campaigns, and hiring grassroots fundraising firm Dialogue Direct.[9] It has seventeen active centers in eleven countries,[10] with a high fundraising efficiency of eighty-one cents to the dollar.

Reception

* In 2009, Consumers Digest named CI one of their "top-rated charities." [17]
* Charity Navigator gives Children International 3/4 stars.[18]
* The Better Business Bureau has given CI accredited status, meaning that it "meets all 20 Standards for Charity Accountability and is a Seal Holder."[19]
* Children International is part of the Combined Federal Campaign, which promotes charitable giving among government workers in the United States. Its number is 12078.[20]

http://www.bbb.org/charity-reviews/n...s-city-mo-1815

Governance


Chief Executive : James R. Cook, President and CEO
Compensation*:
$453,998

Chair of the Board: Dean Oskvig
Chair's Profession / Business Affiliation:

Board Size: 7

Paid Staff Size: 217

*October 1, 2008 - September 30, 2009 compensation includes annual salary and, if applicable, benefit plans, expense accounts, and other allowances.

Programs: 80% Fund Raising: 13% Administrative: 7%

Total income $146,316,901
Program expenses $114,949,143
Fund raising expenses 18,058,888
Administrative expenses 9,687,948

Total expenses $142,695,979
Income in Excess of Expenses 3,620,922
Beginning net assets 37,771,103
Other Changes in Net Assets (401,688)
Ending net assets 40,990,337
Total liabilities 5,151,381
Total assets $46,141,718

Note 1: In the above financial section, other changes in net assets (-$401,688) represents the sum of net realized endowment losses, increase in unrealized gain on investment, increase in actuarial liability for gift annuities, and increase in value of deliverable and non-deliverable forward contracts.

Note 2: For the year ended September 30, 2009, CI had in-kind income in the amount of $52,846,856 which includes educational supplies ($46,994,477), clothing and other ($4,825,271), and medical supplies ($1,027,108).