Mar 22 2010
Pennies for HSUS
Every year in the state of New York, the Attorney General issues a report called "Pennies for Charity." This is the official accounting from the Charities Bureau of the AG's office, showing what happened when professional fundraisers shook the public down on behalf of their nonprofit clients. The reports from 2005 and later are all searchable, and every report since 2000 is available online.
Here's a snapshot of what the Humane Society of the United States, a "factory fundraising" organization if there ever was one, has been allowing to happen in the Empire State.
It's really quite shocking. If you're reading this while walking on a treadmill or flipping through your iPhone on the subway, please sit down before you read the rest.
If you give money to the Humane Society of the United States through a professional fundraiser in the state of New York, barely seven cents on the dollar gets to HSUS at all.
Here's how the totals stack up from 2000 to 2009 (there was no reported professional fundraising for HSUS in New York in the 2003 report, which reflects activity during 2002):
| YEAR | GROSS | NET to HSUS | PERCENTAGE |
| 2009 | $1,950,521 | $103,141 | 5.29% |
| 2008 | $1,679,763 | -$5,358 | -0.32% |
| 2007 | $1,562,814 | $113,686 | 7.27% |
| 2006 | $2,730,720 | $545,843 | 19.99% |
| 2005 | $1,466,145 | -$175,360 | -11.96% |
| 2004 | $1,031,103 | -$173,726 | -16.85% |
| 2002 | $1,299,087 | $291,826 | 22.46% |
| 2001 | $1,083,871 | $16,543 | 1.53% |
| 2000 | $1,373,078 | $257,017 | 18.72% |
| TOTALS | $12,226,581 | $870,471 | 7.12% |
You read that right. If you responded to a fundraising solicitation (especially a telephone solicitation) in the state of New York from someone raising money for the Humane Society of the United States, an average of only 7.12 percent of your donation actually went to HSUS at all. The Share Group, a professional phone-bank fundraising company, kept the rest. And there were actually three years in the last ten where HSUS paid the fundraising company (instead of the other way around).
It gets even worse: A housewife in Syracuse who believes most of her donation is going to support hands-on pet shelters (and our recent poll indicates that this is a pretty typical belief), couldn't be more mistaken—remember that less than one-half of one percent of HSUS's spending actually consists of grants to real "humane societies." Since only 7.12 percent of that gift even gets to HSUS in the first place, less than four-hundredths of one percent of HSUS contributions collected by this New York fundraising company actually reaches a pet shelter:
0.0712 x 0.005 = 0.000356 (0.0356 percent)
We think we're going to be sick.
Now, before you professional nonprofit fundraisers start raising objections, we understand why this happens: This "Share Group" company is empowered to keep practically everything it collects because HSUS is more interested in keeping the resulting mailing lists than in collecting the short-term money. Funds raised later (in years two, three, four, etc...) will all belong to HSUS, since the names and addresses go to the Mother Ship. Think of it like a licensing agreement instead of a fundraising arrangement: HSUS is letting The Share Group use its name to raise money from an unsuspecting public, in exchange for a very tine cut of the profits.
But no one tells the donors.
It would be more honest if the Share Group's telephone fundraising script included a disclaimer. Something like "ninety percent of your donation will go to a professional dialing-for-dollars contractor, but your future donations will go to HSUS—and oh yes, they will be hassling you on a regular basis from now on."
Somehow we doubt that will ever happen.
Related Documents
- 2000 “Pennies For Charity” Report, New York Attorney General
- 2001 “Pennies For Charity” Report, New York Attorney General
- 2002 “Pennies For Charity” Report, New York Attorney General
- 2004 “Pennies For Charity” Report, New York Attorney General
- 2005 “Pennies For Charity” Report, New York Attorney General
- 2006 “Pennies For Charity” Report, New York Attorney General
- 2007 “Pennies For Charity” Report, New York Attorney General
- 2008 “Pennies For Charity” Report, New York Attorney General
- 2009 “Pennies For Charity” Report, New York Attorney General
Related Organizations
Comments
Great article! I hope this knowledge of HSUS becomes known mainstream. Who could respect a charity that has NO respect for peoples generousity and hard earned money. 9 years and over 12 million dollars wasted! I can only imagine the good to homeless pets 12 million dollars could fund. I can’t imagine the numbers of dogs and cats that could have been saved! You were correct you need to sit down for this one! Shameful and tragic to the animals! Zero respect for so many people that meant well by donating to the HSUS. It’s hard to believe that a charity like HSUS does NOT have to disclose how much money will be retained by the telemarketing company.
I always ask telemarketers how much of the money is going to the telemarketing company, and am usually given some very evasive answers. If I persist in my questioning, I am usually transferred to someone else. Some of the solicitors get down right nasty when I insist on a clear answer, which is a huge red flag for me. I follow up by letting them know that I do not ever contribute to anything that has been solicited by phone and ask that I be placed on their do not call list. My phone solicitation calls of any kind, have slowed to a mere trickle.
So, out of more than $12 million donated by from compassionate New Yorders between 2000 and 2009, something on the order of $4350 went to provide shelter and food for pets in need.
Unbelievable.
Please give your money to your local shelters. HSUS do little to help our pets. They are a lobbyist group bent on restricting our animal ownership.
When I read articles like this about the HSUS I believe these are grounds for past donors to file a class action suit! This is just one example. I really think HSUS continued actions such as Katrina, Vick and this example could be grounds for a CLASS ACTION SUIT. Any thoughts..
Visit this site and see what HSUS could have prevented if they were ethical about their own claims: http://www.nathanwinograd.com/?p=3187
This NYC dog was going to be killed because it was hungry; and NYC shelters are begging for food donations.
Wayne Pacelle: Shame on you! There is nothing humane about the HSUS.
And this is not the end…..after the HSUS receives the money,most if not all goes to pay their inflated salaries,pay lobbyists,and some is donated to politicians so the HSUS has their vote. Very little if any goes to actual animal welfare. The HSUS is just a money laundering political machine that wants the power to control your lives!
Hey, I see ole Wayne himself on TV begging for that 19$ a month and Ellen has a new pet food company and she supports PETA and HSUS. Her pet food is crammed with all kinds of good meat saying its fit for human consumption so how does a PETA and HSUS supporter align itself with a meat product? Bucks folks It comes down to cold hard cash, no moral convictions just the quickest and slickest way to get you to part with your hard earned cash. So, Ellen is a fraud just like the groups she supports.Id even research Stamps for Pet Food and make sure not 1 thin dime goes to PETA or HSUS
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All good points, David. Here are a few more to consider, all of which have happened to me in New York state.
Since HSUS claims to be a charity, it is exempt from the NY and US no-call lists. You can stop other solicitations by telephone, but not HSUS/Share Group.
If you join/donate to a non-profit and then stop, they may use Share Group as their “collection agency” to bug you into renewing. My advice is to go online to the national and state Do Not Call Registries and file a complaint.