I got something kind of aggravating in the mail a couple of days ago.  I didn’t open it until just now.

Looks like a perfectly normal donation request, right?  Let me explain why it’s a bit aggravating to me, and you can tell me if you think I’m way off base or not.

Years back, my best friend’s nephew was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma disease, a form of cancer.  As you can imagine, this was devastating news to the family.  I’m happy to report that today, though, he is now cancer-free.  To look at him, you would’ve never known there was anything wrong.  He’s upbeat, has a good sense of humor, and enjoys life.

The family continues to participate in cancer walks, charitable events, and other things to raise money for charity.  One day a couple of years ago, the nephew’s mom sent me (and everyone else) an invitation on Facebook to donate money to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, which I was happy to do.  Ever since then, I’ve received mailings like the one pictured above.  I haven’t really minded up until now, and I was happy to support the cause.

“Why is it starting to get old?” you ask?  It’s not that I mind donating to a worthy cause.  It’s because of what is inside the envelope.

The letter inside reads as follows.

How can five cents help save a child’s life?  Let me tell you…

Dear Mr. Conway, I’ve included a nickel to make a point.

You and I both know that a single nickel won’t go far in the fight against blood cancers.  But even nickels can quickly add up.  And if you invest those nickels in blood cancer research that is searching for cures, you could save not only one child but thousands of patients!

Since the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society was founded in 1949, donations from people like you have helped us invest millions in the fight to find cures for blood cancers.  Today, 89% of children under 15 with the most common childhood leukemia will survive with treatment.

But we must find cures for all blood cancers.  Please won’t you help save a child or adult by sending us a donation today?  Thank you very much for your generosity.  With your help we will continue to put your dollars to work providing help and hope to thousands!

Nancy Klein,
Chief Marketing and Revenue Officer

Sounds perfectly reasonable, right?  So you’re probably wondering what my beef is with it.  My first issue is that it’s a real nickel they included with the mailing.  It’s not really worth much, but as they stated in the letter, nickels quickly add up.  This is a huge organization.  If they sent out 100,000 of these letters (and they probably sent many more than that), that’s $5,000 just in nickels alone.  Although not a huge amount, that’s a decent chunk of money.

But that’s not all.  Also enclosed with the letter were a couple sheets of fall-themed mailing labels with my personalized name and address printed on them.  I’ve bought things like this before online when Jonny and I had our business, and they had cost right around $10 or so.  While I’m sure there these were printed in-house, and probably cost less than that to produce, they’re still sending them out to thousands of people, which also adds up.

All of this probably sounds pretty negative, I realize, and it’s not my intent to knock charities.  I’m sure there’s some kind of business model wrapped around it, where they come out ahead in the end.  I just really wish they would’ve kept the money they spent to print all of the mailing labels and sent it to a child with cancer who needs help more than I need stickers that I’ll probably never use.

Finally… and the thing that really charred my ass was this.  I did some research on the organization to see how much money they brought in, how much was being allocated to what, etc.  Did you know that their previous CEO, who retired in 2008, was making an annual salary of $546,654?  More than half a million dollars of the money donated to cancer patients went into the pocket of their CEO.  Essentially, I could’ve written a check for five hundred grand with the intent of saving a child’s life, and it could have very well been handed straight to the CEO so he could go have drinks and play golf (or whatever executives do).  And that’s just the CEO.  I’m sure there are other executives that received sizable paychecks as well.

Again, I’m sure I’ll receive hate mail on this one.  I don’t claim to have any kind of business degree, or experience running a charity.  I fully understand that there are overhead costs with any organization – including supporting folks who devote all of their time to running it.  I will most certainly continue to donate to the cause as well.  I just wish that more of the money would go to people in need who are going through the same thing my buddy’s nephew went through.

What do you think?  I’m I just being stupid and negative? If so, tell me. I would like to understand this better. I know that this charity has helped many many people, and like I said, I will most certainly continue to send them money. I also know that they aren’t the only ones. I researched a few other well-known charities, and their financial breakdowns look similar. I just wish that more of the money actually made it into the pockets of those in need.