Where does the money go?
This is a question we receive all the time. Instead of speaking in jargon we thought we would spell it out for you and you can decide if you want to entrust us with your donation.
We are a “fundraising organization”, which means we raise money for reputable charities. As a fundraising non-profit, we operate at a lower cost than the charity actually doing the work. We research our beneficiaries in many ways, such as first hand experience or going to charity watch dog sites such as www.charitynavigator.org. We also contact these sites directly to inquire about specific charities. If a charity doesn’t have a four star rating due to high administration costs or other reasons, we most likely won’t support them.
We started Karma for Kids in 2002. Under the name Karma for Kids we raised over $450,000 of which 100% was given to pediatric oncology camps. We changed the “Karma for Kids” name because we would have had to pay a lot of money to keep it, hence in late 2007 “Karma is Action” was born. To say it very clearly, we were naïve in the past to donate 100% of the proceeds to charity. Why? Running a fundraiser takes money for legal fees, maintaining the books to acquire and keep our 501c3 status, updating and maintaining an informative website, communication to participants, as well as sending out mailings to the hundreds of donors so they can have documentation for tax purposes. We learned this the hard way in 2007 when there was simply no funding to communicate to our community about the challenge, hence we raised very little money.
We have only one part time employee at Karma is Action. The rest of the the Board of Directors donate their time on a voluntary basis. We truly hope this changes. If and when we raise enough money so that we can still make massive donations to charity and support a full time employee, well, it will mean a more secure future for the organization.
Every Spring, we will be supporting a cause that directly affects children going through a life-threatening situation. We love pediatric oncology camps, hence we use Children’s Oncology Camping Association International to select the camps that will receive a donation. http://www.coca-intl.org/aboutus.html
Every Fall we will be supporting a charity which benefits the environment. This year we will be making a donation to the Oceana Foundation, a non-profit comprised of marine scientists, economists, and advocates dedicated to bringing about concrete policy changes to reduce pollution and to prevent the irreversible collapse of fish populations, marine mammals and other sea life.
If you have questions about any of the above, email the Karma is Action Founder, Kathryn Keown Banks at kathryn@karmaisaction.org and she will be happy to answer your questions.
