>>To me (probably as to most people) giving to charities is not only about doing something good but it brings a personal satisfaction (not sure if this is the right term though, but you understand). When I was growing up (raised by my mother of very modest means - she was a factory worker) I remember every week someone (some hasidic Jew) would stop by our apartment and my mother would give them some money. And she would always say that no matter how little you have, somebody has less and we should help. So it kind of got ingrained in me that one must give. So my wife and I give two or three grand every year to various charities. One of the charities, homeless shelter, is not shy reminding us (at least once a week) of the money they need. Recently I looked them up on the Charity Navigator rating and see that the principal of the charity is making about $160K and his wife about $60K. And together they are in about 15% of total expense. Then I looked up another homeless shelter in our area and their principals make about the same (a little less) but because they raise much more money the % of expense is much lower (about 1.5%). So I am wondering, should I drop the more "expensive" charity in favor of the one which puts more money into the programs? Do you think it is reasonable that a principal of a charity makes a lot of money (at least by Obama's standards - I had to get this one in {g}).?
>
>http://www.charitynavigator.org/?gclid=CLbm-6jw95UCFQZinAod0Cxw4w
>
>Just for information sake: Do you know there are folks who actually go bankrupt and still give their tithe? There are many who consider charity donations and a religious tithe as 'untouchable' no matter what.

Thanks for the link the CEO Compensation Study. Looks interesting. And now I feel so cheap that I don't give tithe :).

I know that Americans are very charitable people and give a lot. But I always wonder where these money goes. Obviously one wants their charity to go to the "cause" and not to the expense or fund raising. But I realize that one cannot work without the other. Many years ago I had a CPA who was doing my tax and once we got to talk about what else he does (beside tax returns) he said that he runs a charity. I never asked him what charity he runs although would be interesting. I fired him later though (for a different reason).