Donations to charitable organizations are down this Christmas, largely as a result of the economic downturn we have experienced this fall. We have been hearing a lot from the Salvation Army in particular. On the Salvation Army Canada web site, we have this entry posted yesterday: “Salvation Army in Need of a Christmas Boost Donations Flat Amidst Increased Demand.” This call is mirrored in local media.
This raises two questions. First: how did we ever get so dependent on a religious organization (whose name reflects a militant approach to spiritual well-being) for the delivery of social services? How has the government managed to weasel out of its responsibility to accomplish this on our behalf without all the accompanying religious claptrap?
The second question is more pragmatic: if I drop some coin in an SA red kettle, what assurance do I have that it will be used effectively? The short answer is: I have no such assurance. In fact, it is more likely that my contribution will be squandered.
See the Salvation Army Canada’s Annual Review for 2007/08, a financial statement in pdf format. [Report no longer available.] The important line is “investments” reported at $592.5 million, up from $491.7 million in 2007, $449.1 million in 2006 and $413.0 million in 2005. In other words, while the Salvation Army is crying about how tight the public is, it’s sitting on a reserve of more than half a billion dollars which it has not been releasing for charitable purposes but rather, simply accumulating for the sake of accumulation. I’m afraid it doesn’t lie in the SA’s mouth to call upon the public to dig more deeply if it refuses to do so on its own account.
I have no doubt that next year the SA will report significant losses to its reserve because, like the rest of us, it has taken a beating in the markets. Then again, it would have lost none of that value had it done with that money what we, the public, had entrusted it to do in the first place, namely to spend it for the benefit of those in need.
I for one won’t be supporting an organization which is disingenuous at best and, let’s be blunt, downright dishonest in its (mis)appropriation of our trust.
Update: Access current Annual Reports here. I mean, holy fuck!