Funds Transferred to American Red Cross
Well, we finally figured it all out.
All funds donated via the Liberal Blogosphere for Hurricane Relief campaign have been transferred to the American Red Cross hurricane relief fund. We had a bit of a hang-up as we negotiated with PayPal to waive some of the fees - and as the Red Cross organized itself to accept our donations.
Some transaction details:
* Donors donated a gross total of $181,548.73.
* After PayPal's regular transaction fees, that amounts to $175,641.32 (a net fee of just 3.254%)
* We transferred all $175,641.32 to the Red Cross - and PayPal waived their usual 2% transfer fee, saving $3512.83.
* The transaction was processed through the American Red Cross Oregon Trail Chapter, but all funds are being delivered internally to the national hurricane relief fund.
Some details for donors:
* All donors will receive an email momentarily from me, acknowledging their donation - including contact info for the person at the Red Cross who can verify this transaction.
* All donors who gave over $200 will receive a follow-up email receipt from the Red Cross. (This is their policy across all donation channels - as they're simply too overwhelmed.)
Some details for the curious:
* There were 2204 donors, giving from $1 to $2000.
* Median donation was $50. Average donation was $82.37.
* The DropCash-reported total of $180,414.00 is slightly low due to a few folks who went around the DropCash system.
* Over the two week campaign, the donated ads from the Liberal Blog Ad Network were viewed some 25 million times (not including DailyKos, which hosted their own copy separately). An additional 3.4 million ad impressions were donated by other BlogAds members - and hundreds of blogs ran the ad's HTML, generating an untold number of impressions.
Thank you to everyone who supported the campaign and to everyone who donated.
We made a difference.
Kari Chisholm | September 30, 2005 | Comments (3) |
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Comments
I sent more than $200. When does the Red Cross send me a receipt?
Posted by: John F. Shepard | Sep 30, 2005 10:03:32 AM
John, they have the data. I expect that they'll take care of it in the next week or two.
In the email I sent you, I included a phone number for you to contact if you have questions.
Thanks!
Posted by: Kari Chisholm | Sep 30, 2005 10:56:44 AM
I stumbled upon this site by accident, and while I applaud the idea of giving to Hurricane Victims, let me share some facts (these are verifiable) on the American Red Cross:
(1) American Red Cross took in $2 Billion for Hurricane Katrina survivors. Of that, $54 Million has been set aside for "fundraising costs" and another $36 million has been set asside for "management and general expenses". (Source: The Non Profit Times)
(2)The American Red Cross is currently paying penalties to the FDA for mishandling it's blood supply. In fact, the American Red Cross has been under a consent decree since 1993 for it's consistent mishandling of it's blood supply, and is paying out millions of dollars (dollars you donated) in fines. (Source: The Non Profit Times)
Additionally, the American Red Cross does relief work, not rebuilding, which is where the majority of the costs come in the aftermath of an event like Hurricane Katrina.
I am impressed that so many people wanted to help Hurricane victims (and tsunami, and earthquake, and now fires and floods), but please research where you give your money, and give wisely as well as generously.
Posted by: B. | Jan 18, 2006 10:12:01 AM
