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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Plans set for 30th annual Hiroshima-Nagasaki Vigil ... How'd you get into theater? 'The stage doors were open' ... Mix saw thousands of dollars go down the drain when water didn't ... Plans set for 30th annual Hiroshima-Nagasaki Vigil ... How'd you get into theater? 'The stage doors were open' ... Mix saw thousands of dollars go down the drain when water didn't ... RELOCATIONS Herb Rothschild: Donating with care Comment DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Mar. 21, 2015 at 12:01 AM Updated Mar 21, 2015 at 12:25 AM Posted Mar. 21, 2015 at 12:01 AM Updated Mar 21, 2015 at 12:25 AM » Social News Deborah and I still receive expensively-produced appeals from the Wounded Warrior Project. It calls to mind a subject that interests me: the roles and effectiveness of philanthropy. I’ve long been involved in private giving, both as a donor and a fundraiser. I have no hesitation about being solicited or soliciting. It mystifies me that people who are bombarded with advertisements for material goods object to being offered opportunities to support public-spirited causes. Regarding philanthropy, the simplest question to ask of a charity is how much of its income goes to its programs. The percentage varies widely. Some charities are scams, with most of the money devoted to raising more money and paying staff. But the percentage for above-board organizations ranges higher than many may feel comfortable with. In FY 2012, the Wounded Warrior Project spent 36 percent on fundraising and 6 percent on administration. Its CEO was paid $311,538 (the head of the Veterans Affairs Department gets about $200,000). In FY 2014, Peace House spent 30 percent on administration and  less than 3 percent on fundraising; staff got $15 per hour. Both organizations fall within a reasonable range, although the Wounded Warrior Project presses the upper limit. So if charities perform functions that might be performed by public agencies, most charities are comparatively inefficient in generating funds. Tax collection costs something, but nothing like a third of the total budget. While we feel better about making charitable donations than about paying taxes, a lot more of our tax dollars get put to use. What use, of course, raises a different question. I have far more control over the uses to which my philanthropic dollars are put than my taxes. I resent the very high percentage of the income tax that goes to war and preparation for war. Others may be OK with war spending but wish their taxes weren’t spent on programs I may like. So be it. When we’re all in it together, we don’t get to call the shots by ourselves. I suspect, though, that we unanimously believe we all are obligated to care for our veterans wounded in mind and body. We do that together through the VA. It was our government that sent them to fight in places like Vietnam and Iraq. And while many of us vigorously resisted those morally unconscionable and useless wars into which lying politicians took us, we are all responsible for the damage they did to our service members. So it is outrageous that governmental failures require these misled but patriotic citizens to depend on charity for their care. There are roles for private philanthropy in our society, but this is not one of them. In my opinion, here are the most important roles for private philanthropy: 1. Addressing needs that, for whatever reason, the public sector has neglected. 2. Trying new approaches to problems that the public sector is reluctant to adopt. In both these cases, the goal is to get the public sector to take responsibility once the pioneering work has been done. 3. Advocacy for a change in public policies. Obviously, this third function must be done outside the public sector, because the public sector is the problem. Most of my philanthropic dollars go to social change, not to social service, organizations. And the social change organizations I support the most are those that work to prevent war so that there will be no more “wounded warriors” to put back together. Herb Rothschild Jr. is chairman of the board of Peace House.   DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Mar. 21, 2015 at 12:01 AM Updated Mar 21, 2015 at 12:25 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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