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Save the Children wants you

Comments (0) By Mike Seely Wednesday, Mar 16 2005

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What's more, because Save the Children canvassers receive a cut of the donations they're able to solicit -- 15 percent for one-off donors and 20 percent for "Lifeline Sponsors" -- they're compelled to hotbox donors into forking over cash on the spot rather than mull it over. (Foot soldiers tell prospective donors that 90 percent of any contribution goes to "program services," backing up the assertion with a pie chart from the colorful binder they carry with them. Manuel says the seeming discrepancy is a red herring: A canvasser's cut of a "Lifeline" sponsorship expires after ten months, he explains, and most donors continue to contribute well beyond that period.)

Save the Children is well-regarded among charity watchdog groups. Charity Navigator gives the group its best rating (four stars) and ranks Save the Children 34th out of the 130 international-development charities it surveys. The American Institute of Philanthropy gives Save the Children an "A" rating. (It wasn't always that way: In the late 1990s Save the Children was assailed by NBC News and the Chicago Tribune for, among other indiscretions, grossly inflating its 90 percent figure by counting staff salaries and travel expenses as program services. The Tribune also revealed that Save the Children kept dead African children on its sponsorship rolls.)

Jennifer Silverberg

Gotta get past canvassers like Amanda Hollon if you're looking to buy the new 50 Cent CD.

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Save the Children reports that its street-level-fundraising concept has yielded more than 70 percent of the charity's new donor base.

But the watchdogs aren't convinced, warning that these new donors might not prove loyal over the long haul.

"It's usually frowned upon to pay people a percentage or commission," says Daniel Borochoff, president of the American Institute of Philanthropy. "What this all leads to is that the canvasser may harass the individual to the point where they'll say, 'Okay, I'll give you a contribution this time, as long as I never have to deal with you again.' That can backfire, because the only way a nonprofit can be successful is to build a cadre of long-term, loyal supporters.

"The way I wish they'd do it is to give you the solicitor's identification number, and then when you send your contribution in, the solicitor would receive some credit," Borochoff says. "The way it is, he doesn't want you to think about it, because he doesn't get his commission. If you know what's going on, you're not even going to participate with a street solicitor."