Chase the Vision, Not the Money, Part 2

Last year I published a blog post titled “Chase the Vision, Not the Money“, written in the wake of revelations about the Susan G. Komen Foundation and its questionable funding decisions and political motives. A little over a year later, we find that these same dubious practices run rampant in the spinal cord injury community at the Rick Hansen Foundation.

David Baines, a respected reporter at the Vancouver Sun, scrutinized financial statements from RHF, statements that were released only after pressure from the newspaper. In his article, “Behind the Hansen Foundation“, Baines shares his discoveries, including:

• Exorbitant spending and huge losses incurred with last year’s 25-year anniversary celebration of the Man in Motion tour;
• A tax credit of $1.8 million issued to Rick Hansen for the donation of his naming rights;
• Excessive CEO (Hansen) compensation in the form of both salary and fringe benefits.

The list goes on, and I encourage you to read the full article. I was left feeling angry, disappointed, and ultimately sad to learn that this leading SCI charity, with its massive resources and name recognition, exhibits such poor financial stewardship of precious dollars.

Those of us in the SCI community should be thankful to Baines for this excellent job of reporting. We should also learn our lessons. This article illustrates once again the importance of doing one’s own due diligence when choosing which charitable organizations to support, a diligence to include:

• Educating yourself about research science;
• Examining where charities are investing the dollars supposedly allocated to research;
• Studying financial reports to determine how your donations are being spent.

Performing due diligence does not take a lot of time in the Internet age. The U2FP website is filled with resources to help beginners and veterans learn more about research science. In the U.S., nonprofits are required to make their tax returns available to the public, and most can be accessed at the Foundation Center‘s 990 Finder page. Charity Navigator provides ratings for charities in the U.S. with revenue over $500,000.

While the Hansen story is shocking and disturbing, perhaps the silver lining will be increased scrutiny from donors, both public and private, when contributing to charity. In the world of spinal cord injury, it is imperative that individuals make educated investments of valuable time and money, and that government increases its oversight of the funding it provides.

Tags: charity, Rick Hansen, SCI, spinal cord injury, Susan G Komen, u2fp, Vancouver Sun