[Daniel] Smith, 25, has finally ended a solo two-year walk across the United States, accompanied by the skirl of his doodlesack ... Smith played the bagpipe.

On the back of Smith's backpack are the words "Piping Across the USA for Cancer." But raising money for the American Cancer Society, he says, is only the "catalyst" for a trip that takes a little more explaining.

So far, he estimates that through donations, playing benefits and the occasional gig on a street comer he's raised about $25,000 for the American Cancer Society.... Smith figures he's walked about 6,000 miles since leaving Quoggy Head Park in Maine.

—Daily Progress (AP),
April 9, 1987.

[Top]

A corporation can't perform a charitable act any more than it can fall in love. But sometimes when corporations invest in charity—the way they invest, say, in advertising or in a new fleet of trucks—the dividends can be immense.

Consider the Dayton-Hudson Corp. of Minneapolis ... [who] got wind of a possible takeover attempt by the awkwardly named Dart Group Corp. of suburban Washington....

The keys to Dayton's success were that it employs 34,000 people (although two-thirds of them work part-time) and that it gives away at least five percent of its profits each year to arts organizations and other worthy causes....

Last year Dayton's earned $310 million in profits on $9.3 billion in sales. It gave away $20.8 million to charity—roughly half that in Minnesota. [Dayton chairman Kenneth Macke] and the other top managers of Dayton's had the pleasure of being philanthropic without giving away any of their own money. They aren't alone. The heads of most major corporations are lauded and feted for their generosity with their shareholders' cash.... No one in management owns more than $1 million worth of stock, so when the directors vote to give away $20 million, it costs them less than $20,000—not to mention the tax benefit.

—James K. Glassman, "Free Gifts,"
The New Republic,
July 27, 1987.

[Top]

At first hearing, it's a worthy enough request. Support your local police and at the same time help some underprivileged children.

But the fund-raising tactics of professionals brought in by the local Fraternal Order of Police lean too heavily on raising the funds and too lightly on sharing those funds with charity.

The group hopes to sell 2,400 tickets at $6 each for a May 10 performance of "the Golden Goose." Telephone solicitors are asking people to buy tickets for underprivileged children and for themselves.

The FOP's contract with the firm will give FOP 80 percent of the profits—expected to be about 33 cents on the dollar. That 33 percent is what actually will go to charity.

Two years ago, 6,000 tickets at $4 were sold for the B&B production of "Rumplestiltskin"—but fewer than 2,500 people attended the program.... If those figures hold true for the inevitable no-shows this year, nearly 6,000 tickets will be wasted.

How much better for each donor simply to write a $6 check to the FOP. There would be no bothersome telephone solicitations, no middle men, no waste. Donors would have the satisfaction, of knowing that 100 percent, not 33 percent, of their contributions went to charity.

—Editorial, "Fund-Raisers Lack Efficiency,"
Daily Progress, April 15, 1987.

[Top]