Keith Lankford Moves on...Again/SA Donations?

Dr. Keith Lankford left Sheffield City Schools in mid-August to become an assistant superintendent in Mobile. Now he's on the move again. On November 14th, he was chosen to become the superintendent of Alexander City Schools. Many in Sheffield preferred him in Mobile which was much farther away.

Those who read our blog regularly know that we have always said readers should donate their money to whomever they wish, but that they should also be informed about the recipients of their donations. Earlier today we published a link about the Salvation Army Church. The main reasoning for the article would seem to be Christmas giving, but we received several mentions of the Red Cross as well. We'll stick with the SA for now since this is the time of year most individuals give to that organization.

Giving toys and money are two different things. Presumably, the local SA church doesn't have to send any portion of toys collected to its headquarters in Virginia. How much of the money donated locally goes to administrative costs? One reader sent us documentation that it was only seven cents on the dollar while a second reader sent documentation that it was 18 cents. So what is it really?

From our cursory research, only 82% of donations go to helping others. There is a separate charity called "Feed the Children;" if you give directly to that, 92% reaches the intended recipients.

So basically, if you send a $100.00 check to the SA, $18.00 of it will wind up in Alexandria, Virginia, to cover administrative costs. This is certainly lower than many charities, but you should be aware of this.

But wait...there's more. Of the $82.00 of your donation used to help others, there's no guarantee that it will be used locally. Is there anything wrong with the money being used to help wildfire victims in California? No. Yet most of us want our money to be used locally.

Such local charities as Room in the Inn utilize church workers to perform the administrative tasks. In other words, if you donate $100.00, the entire amount is used locally for the purpose you intended.

Isn't it a no-brainer?