April 2, 2010

Freedom Alliance’s Charity Rating Falls After CREW Complaint

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In the days since Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed complaints regarding Sean Hannity’s charity work, Charity Navigator downgraded its rating of Freedom Alliance from four stars to two stars.

CREW’s complaint to the Federal Trade Commisssion alleges the Fox News star has falsely claimed that all proceeds from his Freedom Concerts go directly to a program run by Freedom Alliance—Oliver North’s non-profit—that helps veterans’ kids attend college. In reality, it’s not clear exactly how much money finds its way to scholarships. CREW also challenged the Freedom Alliance’s tax-exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service, arguing that the group is engaging in partisan political activities that should disqualify it from this status..

Charity Navigator provides independent analysis of a charity’s financial health, looking at “how responsibly it functions day to day as well as how well positioned it is to sustain its programs over time.” Here’s CREW’s latest post on their complaint against Hannity and the Freedom Alliance.

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

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