Some Charities Singled Out by Oregon Bill Supporters

Dakota Indian Foundation (Chamberlain, S.D.)

• What it does: Offers scholarships to Native American students and provides grants to help preserve Native American culture.

• Amount raised in 2009 (most recent available): $1,231,386

• Amount spent: $1,181,583

• Percent of expenses spent on programs: 24

• What it says: Oregon’s proposal to limit deductions to charities that don’t spend at least 30 percent on programs isn’t realistic for small organizations that don’t have enough workers to manage their own fund-raising campaigns, says executive director Ron Kjonegaard. The group, he says, has been using professional fund raisers since 1994—a move that has helped it increase its number of active donors in Oregon and elsewhere from 16,000 to about 60,000. “If we don’t hire a professional fund raiser, we’d be dwindling down our donor base,” Mr. Kjonegaard said. “When you’re a two-person shop, you have to outsource.”

Dogs Against Drugs/Dogs Against Crime (Anderson, Ind.)

• What it does: Provides dogs to police departments and trains canine officers; teaches youngsters about drug abuse.

• Amount raised in 2009 (most recent available): $1,046,292

• Amount spent: $1,029,493

• Percent of expenses spent on programs: 9

• What it says: According to the organization’s tax return, it made $3,500 in grants in 2009. Officials from the organization did not return phone calls seeking comment, and e-mails were undeliverable.

Korean War Veterans National Museum and Library (Chicago)

• What it does: Works to create a museum that will mark the history of the Korean War.

• Amount raised in 2009 (most recent available): $1,782,202

• Amount spent: $1,745,901

• Percent of expenses spent on programs: 33

• What it says: Elise Bartholomay, the museum’s national campaign director, said the museum is still under development and, as a result, it is spending a lot of its money to get attention and attract donations. “The [Oregon bill] simplistically holds all nonprofits to the same standard while ignoring the fact that nonprofit missions vary greatly and therefore must necessarily follow different paths to completion and fulfilling its mission,” Ms. Bartholomay said.

Operation Lookout National Center for Missing Youth (Everett, Wash.)

• What it does: Provides free services to help families find abducted and other missing children.

• Amount raised in 2009 (most recent available): $1,409,411

• Amount spent: $1,421,120

• Percent of expenses spent on programs: 12

• What it says: Melody C. Gibson, Operation Lookout’s executive director, said her group had used a professional fund-raising company in the past but in the 1980s opted to raise money on its own. For three years, the group rented office space, purchased work stations, leased a large phone-dialing system, hired telemarketers, and paid for printing, envelopes, and postage. But it found that raising money on its own was both exhausting and ineffective. The results were only marginally better than when the group had paid an outside company to do its fund raising, Ms. Gibson said.

“The board of directors voted to go back to outsourcing, which permitted the organization to focus its entire attention once again solely on child search,” Ms. Gibson said.

She says she agrees with Oregon lawmakers who want charities to spend more on programs and less on overhead.

But, she says, the pending measure is “interfering with donor rights to give or not and to receive a tax deduction. What is appalling is the damage done to good work performed in good faith. Everybody has to pay their expenses, and ours are not recklessly managed.”

Shiloh International Ministries (La Verne, Calif.)

• What it does: Provides medical necessities and moral support to needy children and provides assistance to the homeless and hungry, veterans, and children’s hospitals.

• Amount raised in 2009 (most recent available): $825,928

• Amount spent: $829,220

• Percent of expenses spent on programs: 3

• What it says: A recorded message at the organization’s office says it is a nonprofit California religious corporation that represents the American Veterans Network and Handicapped Children’s Services of America. The group’s tax return shows it spent more than $695,000 on professional fund raisers in 2009. Representatives from the organization did not return phone calls seeking comment.

The Wishing Well Foundation (Metairie, La.)

• What it does: Provides vacations and other “wishes” to terminally ill children.

• Amount raised in 2008 (most recent available): $1,323,845

• Amount spent in 2008: $1,307,437

• Percent of expenses spent on programs: 10

• What it says: The group’s tax return shows that it gave $57,861 in grants in 2008. Its three largest program-service expenses were for fulfilling wishes for three children; one to visit a grandmother, another to visit Disney World, and one for an Alaskan cruise. The organization did not return e-mail messages seeking comment.