December 15, 2011; Source: Portland Business Journal | Yesterday we wrote a newswire about a warning by the New York attorney general that charity telemarketers keep the large majority of what they raise. But here comes Oregon’s attorney general, John Kroger, with his list of the 20 worst charities in Oregon—and two things are interesting about it. The first is that some of these “charities” managed to spend in the single digits on charitable activities. The other interesting thing is that these groups are not actually from Oregon, so these same people may be operating in your state as well.

From the A.G.’s statement:

For the second year in a row, Shiloh International Ministries topped the list. Shiloh International Ministries claims to solicit money to provide medical necessities and moral support for needy children and to provide assistance to the homeless. According to its most recent financial filings, the California-based non-profit spent an average of $846,340 per year, 96.8% of which went towards management and fundraising.

No. 2 on the list is American Medical Research Organization, which claims that it raises money to support medical research on the cause, cure and treatment of macular degeneration. The Florida-based non-profit spent an annual average of $783,217, just 4.2% of which went towards its charitable purpose.

As is infuriatingly is almost always the case, a number of these charities are supposedly raising money for first responders, but look at the percentages here:

  • The Law Enforcement Education Program, of Troy, Mich. (4.6 percent).
  • Firefighters Charitable Foundation, of Farmingdale, N.Y. (8.8 percent).
  • Disabled Police Officers of America, of Niceville, Fla. (9.9 percent).

Here is the rest of the list. – Ruth McCambridge