The "National Cancer Research Center (a project of the Walker Cancer Research Institute)" currently is carrying out a direct mail fundraising campaign.
Their letter of solicitation contains a check to recipients for $2.50. The letter states that you may cash the check and keep the money for yourself, no strings attached, or instead return it with "your own gift of $10.00 or more to help in our fight against cancer"
I checked out this outfit on Charity Navigator and found that the great majority of contributions they receive are spent on fundraising costs as opposed to their "fight against cancer." 91% of donations to the Walker Cancer Research Institute are reported as "Fundraising Expenses". Only 3.6% of Walker Institute's funds are spent on the programs and services it delivers. THIS IS SHODDY PERFORMANCE by any standard! The institute has the lowest rating given by Charity Navigator (0 stars)
http://www.charitynavigator.or...id=5417#.UzA2fKhdXTo
I am going to cash their check and give the money to Doctors Without Borders, which spends only about 12% on fundraising and over 86% on program services and has the highest rating (four stars) given by Charity Navigator. I suggest that anyone else being solicited by the "National Cancer Research Institute (A Project of the Walker Cancer Research Institute)" consider a similar course of action.
http://www.charitynavigator.or...id=3628#.UzA1e6hdXTo