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FUR COMMISSION USA PRESS RELEASE, DECEMBER 30, 2003
Major Animal Charities Still Flunking the Ratings
(Revised Dec. 31, 2003)
It's no secret that some tax-exempt charities are more beneficial to society than others, with the worst of the lot doing precious little other than raise funds and pay inflated salaries. And to the unitiated donor, knowing which one to support can be difficult. While Bob's Humane Society may run shelters for hundreds of homeless dogs and cats, Joe's Humane Society next door may do little more than raise funds to pay for "board meetings" in the Bahamas.
Enter watchdog organizations such as Charity Navigator, to provide donors with vital guidance on where to send their dollars. If a charity, for example, spends almost all of its money on efficient, effective programs while keeping fundraising costs and overheads to a minimum, it is rewarded with a four-star rating. At the other end of the spectrum, spending all those tax-exempt dollars on new cars for your staff earns you a big ZERO.
For 2003, Charity Navigator has rated 154 American charities in the category of "Animal Rights, Welfare, and Services", 101 charities involved in "Wildlife Conservation", and 137 working on "Environmental Protection and Conservation".
So how did our "favorites" do this time?
Black Holes
If there's one American animal rights charity that's a black hole for money, it's the Humane Society of the US. But perhaps we should send it anyway? After all, in 2003 HSUS increased its star rating by fully 100%. That's right. In 2002, it received one star. This year, it received two! Way to go, HSUS!
As a whole, HSUS affiliates turned in equally impressive performances. Humane Society International, which taps into funding sources outside the US, likewise upped its star tally from one to two.
Another strong showing came from HSUS's DC-based EarthVoice. In 2002, it hit rock bottom, recording zero, zilch, nada on the star rating. But it bounced right back in 2003, registering a strong one star!
Less exciting but totally consistent has been the HSUS Wildlife Land Trust. One star in 2002, one star in 2003. Donors know where they stand with this one!
Which left just one lame performer in the HSUS stable. The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), which HSUS now effectively runs out of Massachusetts, bagged two fat stars in 2002. This year that tally was halved.
Another major player on the American animal rights scene is the International Fund for Animal Welfare, but sadly its impressive star rating of two in 2002 headed south this year. You're just another Lone Star charity.
And to round out the triumvirate of American animal rights giants, we have People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and its spinoffs.
PeTA proper went from strength to strength, transforming a lackluster one star in 2002 into a glowing two stars in 2003.
But words cannot describe the performance of the Foundation to Support Animal Protection (FSAP), set up by PeTA and its sister organization Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. Like HSUS's EarthVoice, in 2002 it got the zero, zilch, nada star rating. In 2003, it clawed its way off the bottom to record a single star, but is it really true what they say? Is anything really better than nothing?
And in brief, here are a few more or the year's stellar performers, starting with the "best":
- Greenpeace: two stars.
- Wilderness Society: two stars.
- World Wildlife Fund: two stars.
- Greenpeace Fund, Inc.: one star.
- Primarily Primates: one star.
- Rainforest Action Network: one star.
In case you're still wondering where to send your charity dollars this year, Charity Navigator is not the draconian taskmaster these results might suggest. Many, many charities record four stars, and if you pick one of those, you'll get as many stars in one go as you will with EarthVoice, HSUS Wildlife Land Trust, WSPA and IFAW combined!
See also:
Major Animal Charities Flunk Annual Rating. FCUSA press release, Dec. 3, 2002.
For further information contact: Teresa Platt, Executive Director, Fur Commission USA, PMB 506, 826 Orange Avenue, Coronado, CA 92118-2698 USA, (619) 575-0139, (619) 575-5578/fax, furfarmers@aol.com, www.furcommission.com.
To take a cyber-tour of a fur farm, visit Fur Commission USA's Fur on Film at http://www.furcommission.com/video/index.htm