Charity Navigator considers it a LOBBYING organization and not a CHARITABLE organization. CN does not rate lobbyists.

Frankly, I don’t think HRC does either of these things; however, the arrogant, infused w/celebrititous, egregiously overpaid director, Joe Solmonese, does suck Obama’ dick (politically, if not also physically).

You are more than welcome to see police reports, speak to the individuals who were arrested, and have issued written confession, and you are invited to the trials… If you STILL don’t believe, then you’re an idiot.

P.S.

I’ve identified myself (because I’ve got NOTHING to hide), please do the same.

In these very hard economic times, EVERYONE is feeling the blow, and non-profit orgs are no exception. The funds acquired around the time of the release of this article are essential to the financial health of an organizations upcoming year. Right now, we should all be coming together to make sure the few resources that we have as an LGBT and Allied community survive. Imagine if this article had a larger impact than it did.

Donations plummet, Affirmations closes.

Are you proud?

Donors who want to give well should give where they can observe what an organization is doing. GMHC is well known, but at a distance of 1500 miles I have no idea whether they are effective or not.

Consider “the sundown method” of sorting organizations: After a certain number of years (say, 15) non-profits born in crisis or out of a need for urgent change should GO OUT OF BUSINESS. Cause-related organizations tend to do their best work in the first 5 to 10 years of their existence. After that they tend to become less and less imaginative, innovative, effective, flexible, creative. What they get good at later on is staying in business. They become institutionalized. They usually continue to do some good, but if social change is what you want, look elsewhere.

Look for organizations that have fresh ideas, fresh blood, new approaches, new staff, new boards, new people. The risks are higher when you support new organizations, maybe, but there also risks in supporting the same old hacks doing the same old thing over and over again.

If you can’t find an organization that is doing something useful, consider making a donation to individuals who you know are doing good work.

I would be remiss if I did not respond to the recent publicity generated from the Queerty piece on supposedly poor performing LGBT charities, encouraging the public not to donate to them (“The Five Worst Gay Charities For Your Dollar,” Dec. 17, 2008). I believe this piece not only did a disservice to the queer donating public, but is a potentially immoral action, in that it could contribute to factors which could put one or more of these much needed agencies out of business.

I have had, in my “out” life, the true pleasure of working along side of, and in some cases, receiving services from, ALL of the named agencies. GMHC has provided invaluable assistance to the LGBT Latino/a community in New York City, and was always there for the various LGBT actions and coalition needs when requested. I was proud to work side by side with the staff of The Task Force taking the lead on the Save Dade project in Miami some years ago, an action without which the Florida county would have lost their non-discrimination protection for certain. I witnessed daily the many people from all over the New York City area making use of programming and support groups at the LGBT Community Center there in the village. Further, I know many of those attending there had to have a place in the “gayborhood” because they could not be seen going to centers in the outer boroughs. While we are trying hard to build an urban community center in the city of Detroit, Affirmations has provided tremendous help as a mentoring agency to that end, and in the meantime, is the only place some youth (including Black and Latino youth) can go to hang out and be themselves. Finally, the Anti-Violence Project saved my life in 2000, when I had become the victim of violence in the Bronx.

Can you put a price on that, Queerty editors?

I am very proud to be able to list former and current directors Richard Haymes, Clarence Patton, Leslie Ann Thompson, Ana Oliveira, Matt Foreman, and Richard Burns among my friends in my struggle for equality. These people do not sit at a keyboard and postulate about how things ought to be all day long, but push up their sleeves, get in the trenches and work hard to make them change, all the while getting relatively little compensation, compared to what they would make in the for-profit world at the same level, and we should be thanking God for them, not challenging them.

But thank you for motivating me to donate to all five organizations. I have not done so in a while, but will remember them all on my next payday!

Sincerely,

Tony O’Rourke-Quintana

Board of Directors / Volunteer Coordinator – Karibu House, Detroit

This is why I agree with other comments that say this post does a larger disservice than it helps at all.

If no one in the professional philanthropic world thinks Charity Navigator is worth a damn for making funding decisions, it’s a pretty good sign that individuals shouldn’t rely on them either.

How should you decide? Look at the RESULTS the CBO gets. That takes some time and effort, can’t be turned into a math problem, or described in a facile blog post.

I sleep better at night knowing that the staff at Affirmations are helping to take care of those who can’t help themselves. As the economy worsens, and as large corporation donations are surely going to decrease, the community needs to rally around our community center now more than ever.

I contribute to and will continue to support Affirmations. Even though Ms. Thompson takes too much off the top, it’s not worth pulling desperately needed donations at the cost of programs for transgendered youth, HIV testing, and addiction recovery. Why undermine a community center because the CEO makes too much? Isn’t it more important to keep people sane, healthy and whole?

There are different criteria to look at when deciding on who to give $$$ to. And if not for nothing the dialogue that has ensued from this post is great. It’s informative to all.

Next interesting/helpful post: Where LGBT peeps should go on vacation or not? Or top 10 pro-LGBT/con-LGBT vacation destinations. I’ve pretty much banned the Caribbean (definitely Jamaica).

how do you not see the usefulness of a post like this? japhy told you that if you are going to donate to these charities, then expect that much of your donation will NOT end up in the hands of the needy, but rather go to bloated overhead costs.

i, quite frankly, am greatful for a post like this. it doesn’t try to tell me which charities support better causes, but rather which charities will take better care of every penny i give them.

I appreciate that Queerty and Japhy are trying to create more original LGBT content, but frankly this is a really bad start.

Failpost Queerty.

Thanks for this update. Would you consider writing and article on the 5 best gay charities to give money to?

Gee, how about interviews, site visits, annual reports, financial audits, client testimonials?

Here are some allocation issues embedded in our 2007 numbers:

• We did not allocate any of the expenses associated with our fundraising dinners to program activities. (Some organizations allocate a significant portion of dinner and event expenses to program on grounds that the content of speeches and other presentations during the event pertain to the organization’s programmatic work.)

• We did not allocate any expenses associated with our direct mail or telemarketing activities to program. (Other organizations allocate anywhere from 40% to 90% of direct mail and telemarketing expenses to program.)

• We did not allocate any portion of the salaries of any staff member who works in the fundraising department to program. (Some organizations allocate a portion of these staff salaries to program on grounds that a portion of the work being done involves or enables informing donors and other contacts about the organization’s program work.)

• We did not allocate any rent, telephone or IT expenses to program. (Some organizations allocate a large portion of these expenses to program on the grounds that program staff occupy space, talk on the phone, etc.)

I could go on and on.

Other factors also make some groups look better than others. For example, organizations that rely on a few foundations and government contracts for the bulk of their income have much lower fundraising costs than organizations – like the Task Force – that raise a significant portion of their income from individuals or events – which are dollar-for-dollar raised inherently much more costly.

I was hoping movement organizations would come together and agree on a standard procedure for allocating and reporting expenses. That never happened.

The best way to evaluate the effectiveness of an organization is to look at what it concretely delivers to our community. On that score – and I’m partial, of course – the Task Force shines.

Matt Foreman
Task Force Executive Director 2003-2008

The only thing more disappointing than Leslie Thompson’s mishandling of Affirmations’ finances is a board that’s too incompetent to know when to get rid of her.

He corrected it.

Japhy, there’s nothing on the website you referenced to indicate that she’s been fired. What made you include that in your original version of the article? Seems like you owe your readers and Leslie Thompson an apology for not checking your facts before publishing something that has no basis in fact.

Also note Affirmations works in a hierarchical system. If your part time your considered worthless, or a nobody. If your a coordinator, you are undervalued and unappreciated. Managers dont manage anything but do as much work as a coordinator but are paid more, if you are a director, you have the bulk of the work, but there are pay disparities between directors. If you are the CAO you are running the show, if you are the CEO, your collecting a nice check, and smiling.

Also note Affirmations works in a hierarchical system. If your part time your considered worthless, or a nobody. If your a coordinator, you are undervalued and unappreciated, if you are a director, you have the bulk of the work, but there are pay disparities between directors. If you are the CAO you are running the show, if you are the CEO, your collecting a nice check, and smiling.

All non-profits are struggling in our current economy; that’s no surprise, but the average full time employee at affirmations makes between $30k and $35k a year, while their CEO takes home nearly $100k. That’s simply not ok.