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31
Jan

How Membership Dues Are Spent at the California Nurses Association

With the pandemic out of control in this country and the demand for healthcare workers and particularly nurses soaring, the National Nurses United (NNU) has been all over the news explaining, defending, cajoling, opining, and talking about nursing in general.

Often referred to as the largest nursing union in the country, the NNU was formed in 2009 when the California Nurses Association (CNA)/National Nurses Organizing Committee/AFL-CIO (NNOC), the United American Nurses, and the Massachusetts Nurses Association came together as 4 founding organizations to create NNU, the largest union and professional association of nurses in the US. Read more »

29
Jan

Executive Compensation at the California Nurses Association

The California Nurses Association is a non-profit, tax-exempt 501 (c) 5 – a professional trade union – representing more than 100,000 nurses in hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare locations throughout the country.  It is important to note the CNA is a founding member of the National Nurses Union (NNU) which was formed when the California Nurses Association (CNA)/National Nurses Organizing Committee/AFL-CIO (NNOC), the United American Nurses (UAN), and the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) came together as 4 founding organizations to create NNU, the largest union and professional association of nurses in the US. Read more »

27
Jan

Executive Compensation at Paralyzed Veterans of America

The Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) is a non-profit, tax-exempt 501 (c) 3 based in Washington, DC (although the organization has 70 offices and 33 chapters throughout the country).

Established in 1947, PVA has a core mission of vets serving vets, funding spinal cord research, and advocating for disability rights, according to their website. So, the question most donors want to know is:  how much of my donation goes to the organization’s core mission?  The answer:  less than half because the organization spent more than $45 million (out of the $92 million in revenue) on a mail program to raise funds.

Key financial information reported by PVA to the IRS on the Form 990 (for the year ending June 30, 2019) include the following: Read more »

25
Jan

Israel’s Discriminatory Policies on Covid 19 Vaccination

Israel clearly values some lives more than other lives and its no more apparent than in the distribution and rollout of the Cover-19 vaccine in Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.

Five days after Hanukkah (the 8-day festival of lights that commemorates the Jews rising up against their oppressors), Israel began vaccinating its citizens, which includes Israeli settlers living inside the West Bank and Palestinian residents of Jerusalem.

Excluded are the nearly 5 million Palestinians (including doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers) who live in the West Bank (under Israeli military occupation) and the Gaza Strip (which is considered by most people to also be occupied by the Israeli military), according to Amnesty International.  How is it that a country who just celebrated rising up against its oppressors exclude Palestinian doctors, nurses, and the elderly in the West Bank (a territory that is not a part of Israel) and the Gaza Strip?  Read more »

23
Jan

Where Does $100 to Paralyzed Veterans of America Go?

The Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) is a non-profit, tax-exempt 501 (c) 3 based in Washington, DC (although the organization has 70 offices and 33 chapters throughout the country). Established in 1947, PVA has a core mission of vets serving vets, funding spinal cord research, and advocating for disability rights, according to their website. So, the question most donors want to know is:  how much of my donation goes to the organization’s core mission?  The answer:  less than half because the organization spent more than $45 million on a mail program to raise funds.

Key financial information reported by PVA to the IRS on the Form 990 (for the year ending June 30, 2019) include the following: Read more »

21
Jan

Executive Compensation at Save The Children (2019)

Save the Children – the Fairfield, Connecticut-based non-profit in the US – is formally known as Save The Children Federation, Inc. and is part of the Save the Children Alliance (a group of 30 Save the Children groups throughout the world that also support Save the Children International).  Established in 1932, Save the Children is a 501 (c) (3) and one of the most well-known charities in the world.

In 2019, Save the Children raised $782 million (including $327 million in government grants)  – $48 million less than the previous year – and spent $751 million (not including $3 million in depreciation) primarily on grants ($551 million), staff compensation and benefits ($108 million), fees for services ($48 million), and office-related expenses ($20 million). Read more »

19
Jan

Where Does $100 to Save The Children Go (2019)?

The Save the Children Fund is one of the most recognizable charitable organizations in the world. Established more than a hundred years ago in 1919, the organization is legally known as Save the Children Federation, Inc. in the United States, but is often simply referred to as “Save the Children.”

On the Save the Children website (www.savethechildren.org), the organization reports that “86% of all expenditures went to program services” with the key word being “expenditures.”  Expenses are normally analyzed as a percentage of revenue, not as a percentage of total expenditures because both parts of the equation – revenue and expenses – are important to understand how an organization is operating. Without revenue, it doesn’t matter how much of an organization’s expenditures were spent in a single category.  Both sides of the equation have to be considered.  In addition, most people want to know how their charitable contribution (which is revenue) was spent. In order to know this, an analysis has to include the revenue collected and the revenue spent. Read more »

17
Jan

Executive Compensation at Spectrum Health System (Michigan)

The Spectrum Health System is a tax-exempt integrated healthcare system based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. With dozens of related and affiliated non-profit organizations that include 15 hospitals, 12 urgent care facilities, 43 labs, physician practices, a health insurer (Priority Health) and more, the Spectrum Health System generally refers to the whole organization. This post addresses the executive compensation reported on the IRS Form 990 (2017 for the year ending June 30, 2018) for the Spectrum Health System Group Return (SHSGR). Read more »

15
Jan

Rice Pudding: With No Dairy or Refined Sugar

Last year I was walking around New York City and zeroed in on a sign in a restaurant window that said “Finally, A Rice Pudding That Doesn’t Suck” that cracked me up laughing. I then took a picture even though I had no idea why. Probably because the sign just made me laugh with its truth.

Rice pudding is a total comfort food that is pretty hard to screw up but often is because people use cheap or crappy ingredients or don’t give the dish the attention it requires.  There’s no way around making a fantastic rice pudding except to use exceptional ingredients and to remember to always stir when the rice is cooking (just like risotto). Read more »

13
Jan

10 Key Things to Know About Samaritan’s Purse

Samaritan’s Purse – based out of Boone, North Carolina – is a tax-exempt, non-profit 501 (c) (3) established in 1970 by Bob Pierce who died in 1978. W. Franklin Graham (son of Billy Graham) became Chairman, President, and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse in 1979 and has held the position since although he is also an evangelist for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Samaritan’s Purse is a nondenominational Christian organization that provides “spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world.” Read more »